Namfrel launches vote watch app

Woman using smart phoe (INQUIRER.net stock image)

MANILA, Philippines — Voters may report inaccuracies and irregularities in the transmission of poll data on election day through a citizen engagement app created by the poll watchdog National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel).

Launched on Friday, the mobile-based Namfrel app can be used for both iOS and Android phones and only requires a phone camera, GPS and data connection for users to be able to submit data.

“The strength of this is that voters are involved in [checking the election process] and are not just mere spectators. All of them can participate … to know what really is happening [during the elections],” Gus Lagman, president of Namfrel, told a press briefing.

Fernando Contreras Jr., national council member of Namfrel, said the app has two components that can be used by voters: bandwidth tester and the election return photo feature.

The bandwidth test is an internet data speed test to check the strength of a voting precinct’s 4G connection.

Based on the app’s instructions, an individual must go to the entrance of the voting center, turn off the phone’s Wi-Fi and then switch on the mobile data and the GPS. After starting the bandwidth test, the results should show the person’s correct location and SIM card provider.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has changed the communications system—from 3G to 4G—for the transmission of election returns.

Presidential candidate Sen. Panfilo Lacson and his running mate Senate President Vicente Sotto III complained that the change in how Smartmatic will transmit data could be used for election fraud because auditors may find it difficult to trace from which vote counting machine (VCM) a certain election data came from when using 4G.

The other app function is the photo feature, which can be used to verify if the “results hash” code in ERs of a certain precinct matches the values sent digitally for canvassing. The same feature can also check whether the “system hash” values from a precinct are the correct alpha-numeric combination.

Lito Averia, also a Namfrel national council member, said the results hash is like a fingerprint because it is unique to the results of a specific precinct. On the other hand, the system hash is a fixed string of letters and numbers assigned to all VCMs in the country and abroad.

RELATED STORY:
Experts bare trust issues with Comelec