Smartmatic has inside track

Technology provider Smartmatic-Total Information Management (TIM) Corp. has gained the lead in the bid to supply more than 70,800 optical mark readers (OMRs) to be used in the forthcoming balloting.

In a resolution dated June 30, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) Special Bids and Awards Committee 1 (SBAC 1) said the Venezuelan firm had submitted the lowest calculated bid at P6.28 billion and could proceed to the post-qualification process.

Its lone rival for the project, Indra Sistemas SA was disqualified after it submitted a “nonresponsive” bid, said the awards committee.

“Upon evaluation of the financial bid and bid price tenders of both bidders, the SBAC 1 declares Smartmatic-TIM Corp. as the bidder who submitted the lowest calculated bid,” read the committee’s Resolution No. 2015-001.

The committee explained that Indra’s financial bid was not responsive “because it pertains to the procurement of 23,000 OMRs.”

The purchase of 23,000 OMRs was one option being considered by the Comelec should the bidding for the repair of its 81,000 precinct count optical scan machines succeed. So far, however, no company has submitted a bid to repair the old machines. The Comelec’s other option is to purchase more than 70,000 new OMR units.

On Tuesday, the Comelec en banc reversed a previous ruling that disqualified Smartmatic-TIM in the bidding for the 23,000 OMR machines. The en banc decision virtually made the firm the winner of the P2.5-billion project.

As the bidder with the lowest bid, Smartmatic-TIM will go through the post-qualification process, where all the statements it made in the bidding documents will be evaluated and verified. According to the committee’s resolution, this includes the company’s competence and experience, and the sufficiency of the bid’s security.

“Failure to submit the requirements on time or a finding against the veracity of such shall be ground for the forfeiture of the bid security and the disqualification of the bidder,” said the committee.

In a press conference on Tuesday, Comelec Chair Andres Bautista said the commission was exploring all options available to them following the failed bidding for the repair and refurbishment of the PCOS machines.

During that bidding, the Comelec awards committee said no bids were submitted even through three prospective bidders—Smartmatic, Indra Sistemas SA and Vertex—bought bid documents. Smartmatic and Vertex both submitted letters of withdrawal, while Indra was a no-show.