Comelec reports glitches in 1,000 SD cards on Election Day

MANILA, Philippines — Around 1,000 SD cards encountered glitches on Election Day, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said.

“A thousand SD cards have experienced issues which translates to about 400 to 600 VCMs (Vote Counting Machines),” Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said in a press conference.

He said he is correcting the earlier statement issued by the Comelec that there were a thousand VCMs that encountered issues on Monday.

The number of SD cards that encountered glitches was almost ten times higher than in the 2016 polls, said Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon in an interview with GMA News.

Guanzon said the supplier offered the lowest bid for SD cards to the Comelec.

“Kung minsan itong lowest bidder na rule, hindi rin ito maganda kasi I suspect doon sa post-qualification ng bidding, magandang SD cards ang binigay ng supplier pero nung nag-supply na siya, syempre mababa ‘yung bid niya so ika-cut niya ‘yung cost niya,” she said.

(Sometimes, this lowest bidder rule is also not good because I suspect that they presented good SD cards during the bidding, but in delivering the cards they need to cut the cost because the bid was low.)

She added that the Comelec will assess whether the supplier of the SD cards will have any liability based on the contract.

Meanwhile, aside from the SD cards, Jimenez said  the Comelec also received reports on issues with the voter registration verification machines (VRVMs) where voters  place their thumb for identification before casting a vote.

‘Yung operating issues range from yung mga voters hindi alam kung paano gamitin all the way to yung VRVM talagang hindi na nagfunction (Operating issues range from voters not knowing how to use the VRVM to devices not functioning at all),” he said. (Editor: Eden Estopace)