Back up electoral fraud claims with evidence, Comelec exec tells groups

MANILA, Philippines — An official of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has asked people and groups to refrain from making baseless accusations that the 2019 elections were rigged, challenging them to back their claims with evidence.

Commissioner Luie Tito Guia said on Wednesday that individuals and groups should be responsible with their statements as they cast doubt on the whole electoral process.

“Ang sinasabi ko lang, kung meron kang sinasabi, maganda kung may data, ‘di ba? Kasi parang sense of responsibility na sasabihin may nangyari, tapos magpo-project ka,” Guia told INQUIRER.net.

(What I am saying is it is good if you can back up your claims with data. That is part of your responsibility.)

“Institutions ‘yong nasisira eh. Hindi ‘yong institution na Comelec ha, election as a democratic institution,” he added.

(Institutions are destroyed [by baseless accusations] — not the Comelec but the election as a democratic institution.)

Reports of differences between the votes in the ballots and those reflected in the receipts as well vote reportedly being credited to names of candidates not shaded in the ballot by voters surfaced Monday.

Theories of a possible cover-up meant to benefit administration bets were also fueled after a glitch in the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) transparency server delayed the initial transmission of poll results on Monday evening.

After the initial transmission at 6:00 p.m of results from 0.38 percent of all polling precincts nationwide, there was a hiatus in updating the results. The next update came in at 2:00 a.m. on Tuesday. However, the second update covered more than 90 percent of precincts.

Some netizens have commented that the essence of the transparency server was disregarded.

Comelec explained that the problem was caused by a glitch in the data packets sent to the transparency server. They also clarified that only the relay of results to PPCRV and the media outfits were affected, but the transmittal of votes from the vote counting machines (VCMs) to the Comelec was not affected.

READ: Comelec transparency server glitch delays release of partial poll results

READ: Comelec blames ‘bottleneck’ for 7-hour server delay

The poll body has reiterated that is open to any technical audit after the glitch.

READ: Comelec open to ‘technical audit’ amid transparency server mess

But amid the accusations, Guia reminded the public that there are other sources of information where people can confirm if the data in the PPCRV server is accurate.

“(Merong) ibang kopya ng election return, kung hindi ka naniniwala sa transparency server sa official ka tumingin, ‘yong mga ‘yon, multiple copies ‘yong ating election results that are generated, sa precinct level, sa municipal level, at sa provincial level,” he said.

(There are other copies of the election returns. If you do not trust the transparency server, check the official results. There are multiple copies of the election results being generated at the precinct level, the municipal level, and the provincial level.)

Guia also explained that the numbers from the PPCRV’s partial and unofficial count may differ from the Comelec’s official tally.

“Depende kung ano na ‘yong na-tally ng Comelec at kung ano na ‘yong na-include sa PPCRV (It depends on what has been tallied by the Comelec and if they are already included in the PPCRV tally),” he said in reply to questions about possible discrepancies between PPCRV and Comelec results.

“Kasi ang dumating sa Comelec, ‘yong provincial total, at hindi naman lalabas ‘yong provincial total kung wala pang municipal total. Dito sa PPCRV server, precinct (data) ‘yong dumadating. So pwedeng kalahati ng isang municipality dumating na doon, pero hindi ‘yon nare-reflect sa Comelec kasi hindi pa nabuo. So hindi ‘yon magtutugma,” he added.

(What the Comelec receives is the provincial total, which includes the municipal data. The PPCRV, on the other hand, receives precinct data. So it is possible that the Comelec already received half of the results from a certain municipality, but it will not reflect in the tally because the tally for the provincial level is not yet complete. So the figures at the Comelec will not always match with that of the PPCRV at any given time.) (Editor: Eden Estopace)