Systematic fraud marks 2010 auto polls 06/29/2010

Comelec insists on buying PCOS machines, despite AES likely death Systematic fraud marks 2010 auto polls 06/29/2010 Systematic cheating marked the 2010 automated polls, the chairman of the House of Rerpesentatives committee on suffrage and electoral reforms yesterday said in a TV interview, stressing that he will be proposing for Congress to junk the automated elections in 2013, given the many instances of fraud noted, and moreover substantiated by documentary evidence. Congressional committee chairman outgoing Rep. Teodoro Locsin Jr. stressed that Smartmatic, while coming up with a lot of excuses and explanations as to why certain irregularities were noted, despite the Commision on Elections’ (Comelec) technical partner’s guarantees on the security features of the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines, failed to provide satisfactory answers. Locsin made it clear that he will be opposing a plan of the Comelec to automate the 2013 polls after evidence showed that there was systematic cheating in the last polls, although Locsin claimed that the cheating was done only in the local level. This statement was however challenged by Comelec commmissioner Gregorio Larrazabal, who pointed out that this was based on one and the same program, and applies to both the local and national level. It was not explained by Locsin why he claims that systematic cheating could only have happened in the local level, and not the national level. Despite these findings by the committee, however, the Comelec appears bent on buying the PCOS machines. Comelec has finally decided to acquire the PCOS, although not all of it, but only some, worth about P150 to 180 million machines of Smartmatic. Comelec chairman Jose Melo claimed that he has not as yet read the congressional report of Locsin but said the poll body’s decision not to purchase all 82,000 PCOS machines is basically because the Comelec does not want “to be tied down” to the same technology. “The total number that we used for the 2010 polls, we are not purchasing because we don’t want to be tied down to Smartmatic and its PCOS,” Melo told reporters, adding that with the fast changing technology available “may be in three years, we will have a much improved system available to us.” Melo explained that while it is stated in their P7.2 billion contract with Smartmatic that they have the option to buy the machines “we said we just put that in the contract, option to buy. But we’re not serious about purchasing them.” But he said they may purchase some 487 PCOS machines worth about $3-4 million which will be used in the special elections in some more areas that have yet to be set as well as in dealing with election protests filed before the commission. Based on the contract, all PCOS machines leased by the Comelec will be pulled out come the expiration of the agreement on Dec. 31, 2010. The Comelec chief admitted that there are enough grounds for the report of the House committee on suffrage and electoral reforms to say that “all the loopholes in the PCOS and the automated election process should be firmly plugged”. He admitted that the AES used by Smartmatic and Comelec still has a lot of things that should be improved..... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100629hed1.html

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