Group assails track record of Comelec contractor

Comelec. INQUIRER FILES

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is being hounded by questions over the track record of a South Korean company that won the service contract for the 2025 elections.

A group skeptical of the winning bidder cited reports of the company’s machines malfunctioning when used in the elections in two other countries.

Democracy Watch Philippines (DWP) on Friday expressed concern over the awarding of the P17.9 billion vote-counting contract to Miru Systems, given the issues that cropped up during the
2023 elections in Iraq and in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

DWP cited local and international news reports about Miru machines encountering glitches that “resulted in delayed voting, widespread chaos, and worst, massive erosion of public trust.”

Iraq election

Regarding the 2023 elections in Iraq, Miru has already denied the allegations and cited an earlier statement from the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (Unami) that described the elections as “fair and successful.”

But on Dec. 12, 2023, Claudio Cordone, deputy chief of Unami, clarified in a news statement that their mission does not have an electoral monitoring role.

“Unami will not observe or monitor the Dec. 18 elections, and is therefore not in a position to undertake an assessment of the manner in which the elections are conducted,” the news release read.

DWP also noted that Miru had yet to respond to questions from third-party election observers in Kinshasa, such as the National Episcopal Conference of Congo (Cenco) and the Church
of Christ in Congo (ECC).

Congo polls

According to the preliminary election report of Cenco and ECC gathered from the 60,000 nationwide volunteers, about 45.1 percent of the polling stations experienced problems with their
electronic voting machines.

“Breakdowns and technical errors were rampant, thereby delaying voting and creating confusion among voters,” the DWP press statement read.

READ: Comelec wants 2025 automated poll system contractor by March

“International election observation mission Carter Center noted in its report that election observers in 22 percent of polling stations in Congo witnessed technical problems, including prolonged periods of machine inoperability. This led to the closure of some polling stations and the extension of voting for another day,” it added.

The group also sought clarification as to whether the prototype machine showcased in the Comelec’s evaluation process was different from or the same as those used in Congo.

“If identical, the public should be assured that any previous technical issues are rectified to prevent any disruption in the forthcoming 2025 Philippine elections,” DWP said.