‘Minor discrepancies’ seen in encoding of election-related data — PPCRV

MANILA, Philippines — The Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) said Tuesday afternoon that they have observed minor discrepancies particularly on the side of encoders.

“Sa ngayon, mayroon tayong mga nakikita na mga kaunting discrepancies,” PPCRV board member Arwin Serrano told reporters at the PPCRV Command Center in Manila.

Serrano said that the discrepancies include human errors from the encoders, particularly with confusion on digits that look similar.

“Ang small discrepancies ay human errors kasi some numbers are almost the same symbol. For example, number 5 and number 6; number 9 and number 8; number 1 and number 7; number 2 and number 3; so yan ang mga pwedeng posibleng magkamali,” Serrano said.

“Mayroon din sa pag-press ng numbers sa mga computers, there’s also a possibility na ganun ang mangyayari… Mayroon ding tama ‘yung numbers pero mali yung alignment,” he added.

Serrano also noted previous experiences including election returns (ER) with smudges or adhesive tape.

“In the past, wala pa naman ngayon, mga nagkakaroon ng smudges. Yung masyadong nadikit yung ER at na-press ng husto during travel. ‘Yung mga nalagyan ng tape so pagbukas ng envelope, tinamaan yung ER,” Serrano said.

Serrano, however, said that human errors are always a possibility if there is human intervention in the process.

“Let’s face it kapag mayroong participation ng tao, there is a possibility of human error. We don’t criticize [our volunteer encoders],” Serrano said.

Additional validation steps

Serrano said the discrepancies will be subjected to another validation procedure.

“Kahit walang discrepancies, ang operations natin dito sa PPCRV Command Center is after first validation, sila ay subjected to second validation so kapag wala pa ring nakuhang discrepancies then hindi na siya pupunta sa third and final validation,” Serrano said.

“Pero kung meron [pa ring discrepancies], ‘yun ang isa-subject sa third and final validation,” Serrano said.

Serrano said additional validation process will be done to ensure that the results are accurate.

“Ang gusto namin pulido at masasabi natin na talagang ki-nompare natin, pinaghirapan natin ng husto,” Serrano said, adding that they have added shifts to cover different timeframes within the day. (Editor: Julie Espinosa)