AUTOMATED ELECTIONS PHILIPPINE-STYLE: GLITCH AND CLAMOR

I had the opportunity to observe the local elections from start to finish for the first time on Monday (13 May 2013) and I share as a way of constructive criticism (I hope) some “commentable,” surely not commendable, scenarios and actions that made the electoral process a bit inconvenient, frustrating, and confusing for some, if not most people, including those who administer the same. 

1. No COMELEC Supervisors/Officers in the Polling Place. Or maybe they were not just that visible. Just the same, the presence of the officers most responsible for this exercise was not felt. People rely on postings, PPCRV volunteers, election “personnel” of political parties and candidates for information and guidance. The Board of Inspectors was also sometimes clueless or could not immediately decide on how to address issues and concerns that crop up during the Election Day. There was no one to enforce COMELEC Rules and therefore violators abound.  

2. Not enough (in numbers and capability) Technical Support Assistance – Considering that automated elections are relatively new in our country, there were not enough numbers of technical people to assist the BEI whenever the PCOS machines encounter problems. Only one person in the BEI is required to have the technical knowhow and it cannot be expected that he or she knows how to troubleshoot in case the machine bogs down. From what I gathered, only one technical support staff was assigned for every five or seven precincts. These IT personnel did not even bother to look distinguishable, much more respectable, as they came to work in plain shirts and shorts. This made me wonder if they were really capable of doing their job. Some could not even determine right away what’s exactly wrong with the erring machine and could not provide immediate and effective solution or alternative, thereby causing too much delay in the process.

 3. Too many PPCRV Volunteers. I admire the cause of the PPCRV and the commitment of its volunteers but their numbers were simply too much. They crowded the polling place and "come and go" inside the precincts like they were free to access them anytime. Some even acted like officers and asked people to leave the premises if they went out of bounds or broke some rules. I am not even sure if these volunteers were adequately briefed about the Rules. Isn’t the PPCRV supposed to be just observers and not enforcers? It could monitor the process and report violations or suspicious acts or events but it could not through its volunteers act as policemen in the precincts.

4. Inadequate Number of Transmitters. Where I was, there were more than 15 precincts but only one (1) transmitter was available for their use. So when the voting ended at 7PM and the BEIs were done processing the votes, they had to wait for hours to be able to transmit the election returns. Additional transmitters were sent only after more than three (3) hours had lapsed from end of voting. Worse, the lone transmitter could not access the three servers as required and so the BEIs had to wait some more hours to completely transmit the returns.
 
5. No Back-Up PCOS Machines. Planning and preparation include providing for contingency measures in case something goes wrong. In the case of the automated elections, this means providing for extra PCOS machines that could substitute for those that were deployed but failed to function properly during actual use. They can be securely stored somewhere near the polling places and be made available at once to avoid delay and inconvenience. There were many reports of PCOS machines refusing to accept ballots not because they were defective but mainly because the machine feeder was not working. A lot of hours were wasted because this problem could not be solved. The BEIs eventually resorted to safekeeping the unread ballots in the meantime after four (or even more) unsuccessful attempts and re-feeding them later when the voting was over using another machine.

6. Gaps in the General Instructions for the BEI. While the Rules are adequate and comprehensive enough to ensure the orderliness and success of the elections, there are still some things that are not clearly laid out for the complete guidance of the BEI. For instance, the BEI does not know how to treat “clean” ballots that could not be cast because of the technical issue with the machine as mentioned above. Some even dangerously considered them already as defective ballots when clearly they were not. It is not also sufficiently clear whether the election returns for the dominant parties and others can already be distributed before the transmittal of the ERs. Some already gave them out from the first 8 copies of the ERs, while others wait for the 22 copies to be printed out.  Also, does the transmittal of the ERs have to be made using all three servers or just using any one of them would suffice?

These are not really criticisms that serve to fault anyone for the inadequacies or failures in the elections, but merely observations that can be treated as suggestions for improvement the next time around. I may be wrong in some of these or misconstrued some things I observed, but I think this is worth sharing to contribute in a little way to improving the way our elections are conducted to make them not only a meaningful but also a pleasurable exercise of our civic rights. And in spite of this and the not-so-deserving winning candidates in some local and national positions, I believe we all have done our part to make the 2013 Elections a success.

 

(Photo from http://ph.news.yahoo.com/violence-summarize-taguig-polls-134923567.html)

Salamat

I doubted myself but i never doubted God would give me what i deserve.

To this great, wonderful blessing from Him... To all the people (family, friends, mentors) who stood behind, beside, in front of me... To the solid support of the UP Alpha Phi Beta Fraternity (you are the best, Brods)... I am truly grateful. Ang pangarap ko po ay maging Abogado Para sa Bayan. Ito ay hindi makakamit at magtatapos sa yugtong ito, bagkus ay magsisimula pa lamang. I hope you all stay with me and will still pray for me (a la Pope Francis... Hehe).

Maraming Salamat! :)