Machine glitches mar automated polls

WATCHING COUNT Poll watchers scrutinize the vote tally at Maximo Estrella Elementary School in Makati City. KIMBERLY DELA CRUZ

ELVIE Cortesta tried to feed her ballot into a vote-counting machine (VCM) four times. And four times it was rejected.

The board of election inspectors (BEIs) collected Cortesta’s ballot and combined it with other ballots that were rejected due to a malfunctioning VCM in a precinct at Pinyahan Elementary School in Quezon City.

The ballots will be fed later into the VCM when the machine is replaced, said the precinct’s BEI chair, Fe Jacob.

“I am concerned because there might be cheating,” Cortesta later told the Inquirer.

As of 4 p.m. on Monday, the police had tallied 101 VCMs that malfunctioned in Metro Manila.

The VCM glitches happened not only in the metropolis but also in other parts of the country on Election Day, spawning longer lines and forcing voters in some precincts to leave without casting their ballots or to return later in the day to get their second chance at voting.

Other problems marred the country’s third automated elections since 2010: VCMs failing to start or conking out. Ballots jamming VCMs. Voting receipts not reflecting the candidates chosen by voters. Ballots being delivered to the wrong precincts. Names missing from the voters’ list. Voting starting late.

Despite the delays and glitches in a number of precincts, Comelec Chair Andres Bautista said the elections went smoothly, with the rate of replacement of VCMs significantly lower than that in 2010.

At a press briefing after voting in most of the precincts ended, Bautista said 2,363 out of the 92,509 precincts reported problems with VCMs. But some of the hitches had been immediately fixed, he said.

While the replacement rate of VCMs was 0.15 percent, lower than the 0.26 percent in the first automated presidential balloting in 2010, more precincts placed a “VCM support call” this time to the national support center.

Unhappy with Smartmatic

With standard-bearer Rodrigo Duterte leading partial poll results, the PDP-Laban was happy with the votes so far, but not so much with the VCMs.

In a press briefing late Monday afternoon, the PDP-Laban president, Sen. Koko Pimentel, lashed out at VCM supplier Smartmatic.

“I am extremely disappointed with the high number of reported VCMs not functioning. These are supposed to be brand new. We rented them in two batches: P39,000 and P49,000 per machine,” said Pimentel, chair of the Senate committee of electoral reform and the joint congressional oversight committee on automated elections.

He said he would request the Comelec to withhold payment to Smartmatic until the firm satisfactorily explained what happened. “And if necessary, the PDP-Laban may even ask the Department of Justice [for a] hold departure order against executives of Smartmatic,” Pimentel said.

The camp of Vice President Jejomar Binay also expressed concern over reports of malfunctioning VCMs and the disenfranchisement of many voters.

Balloting extended

Due to the delays in the voting process brought about by malfunctioning VCMs, the Comelec en banc extended the balloting hours until 6 p.m. in precincts that belatedly started at 9 a.m. or later to avoid disenfranchising voters.

The one-hour extension allowed people lining up within the 30-meter radius of the affected polling precincts at 6 p.m. to cast their votes.

Luzon

Many precincts in north and central Luzon dealt with defective VCMs.

Initial reports showed that many VCMs had malfunctioned, mainly because of jammed papers and overheating, in the towns of Solsona, Vintar, Batac, Pasuquin and Sarrat in Ilocos Norte province.

As of 3 p.m. in Central Luzon, Emmanuel Ignacio, Comelec assistant regional director, said 40 out of 9,510 machines sent to Pampanga, Bataan, Tarlac and Zambales provinces encountered problems and were replaced.

Southern Luzon

In southern Luzon, voting was either suspended or stalled in several areas as VCMs malfunctioned. Other machines rejected ballots or had paper jams.

These led to the buildup of queues in some areas, while in cases where VCMs were not fixed, voters were asked to put their shaded ballots in boxes or folders, which the BEI said it would later feed into the VCMs once these were fixed or replaced.

Many of the voters went home unsure if they cast the correct vote since they did not see the receipts, which were supposed to be printed by the VCMs.

In Marinduque province, the Comelec declared a failure of elections in a village in Sta. Cruz town after a wrong set of ballots was sent there.

In Naga City, vice presidential candidate Leni Robredo waited almost two hours for her turn to cast her ballot after the VCM malfunctioned in her precinct.

In Legazpi City, voting continued despite the malfunction of VCMs in a number of polling precincts. Two VCMS were also reported to be down in Tabaco City.

In Sorsogon, voters at a precinct in Irosin Central School in Irosin town were forced to leave their shaded ballots in a box as the VCM refused to take it.

Visayas

Glitches also delayed the conduct of the elections in some parts of the Visayas.

In Cebu City, at least 24 VCMs in Cebu City bogged down and had to be replaced. But Cebu City north district election officer Edwin Cadungog said the voting continued as the voters had agreed to cast their votes and gave their ballots to the BEI that would feed them into the VCM.

The voters signed a waiver that they relinquished their rights to see the receipts of the ballots.

The same happened in certain barangays in Maasin City, Southern Leyte; in Calbayog City in Samar; and some parts of Iloilo City.

The voters in these areas didn’t wait for the machines to be either replaced or repaired. They left their ballots with BEI members who would later feed these to the new or repaired VCMs with  watchers of political parties observing.

Kontra Daya lawyer Jonjon Montemayor said malfunctioning VCMs make the voting process vulnerable to fraud and tampering.

Delayed by a day

At least 722 voters in Barangay Gabi, Cordova town, Cebu, would  have to wait another day to cast their votes. Director Jose Nick Mendros of the Comelec in Central Visayas said only 10 official ballots were printed for the village, which were delivered to Barangay Jolomaynon in Dalaguete town, about 104 kilometers away from Cordova.

In Zamboanga City, Mida Lili, a senior citizen and a registered voter of Baliwasan Central School, said she voted for Rodrigo Duterte as President but her receipt showed the name of Mar Roxas.

Kontra Daya-Southern Mindanao said many VCMs also malfunctioned in Southern Mindanao. Kontra Daya said malfunctioning VCMs were reported in certain barangays in Davao Oriental, in Compostela Valley and in Davao del Norte.

In Davao City, a VCM failed to work at F. Dizon Elementary School in Barangay 19-B.

A VCM overheated in Bayanihan Elementary School precinct in Barangay Mintal. Reports from Erika Sauler, Jocelyn R. Uy, DJ Yap, Jaymee T. Gamil, Kristine Felisse Mangunay, Christine O. Avendaño, Tina G. Santos, Jovic Yee, Katrine Tenia and Lian Gomez in Manila; Leilanie Adriano, Gabriel Cardinoza, Yolanda Sotelo, Kimberlie Quitasol, Desiree Caluza and EV Espiritu, Inquirer Northern Luzon; Tonette Orejas, Greg Refraccion, Jo Clemente, Allan Macatuno, Carmela Reyes-Estrope and Ron Lopez, Inquirer Central Luzon; Delfin T. Mallari Jr., Marrah Erika Rabe, Redempto Anda, Michael Jaucian, Jofel Joyce Lancion, Mayda Lagran, Romulo Ponte, Kimmy Baraoidan, Mar Arguelles, Juan Escandor Jr., Shiena Barrameda, Ma. April Mier, Maricar Cinco, Ma. Lourdes Gaufo, Shan Gabriel Apuli, Rexan Nuarin, Mary Jane de Guzman and Colin Abliter, Inquirer Southern Luzon; Jhunnex Napallacan, Jennifer Allegado, Ador Mayol, Carla P. Gomez, Nestor P. Burgos Jr. and Jani Arnaiz, Inquirer Visayas; Jigger Jerusalem, Jeoffrey Maitem, Julie Alipala, Allan Nawal, Chris  Panganiban, Danilo Adorador III, Eldie Aguirre, Orlando Dinoy and  Williamor Magbanua, Inquirer Mindanao