Comelec says script tweak was minor, did not affect results

Comelec Chair Andres Bautista INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

Commission on Elections (Comelec) chief Andres Bautista on Thursday maintained that the integrity of the results of the May 9 national elections remains unaffected despite claims of election fraud hurled by the camp of vice presidential candidate Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.

Marcos’ camp earlier claimed that a new script was put in the Comelec’s transparency server to cut down the lead of the senator over administration candidate Camarines Sur Rep. Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo.

However, contrary to the camp of the senator, Bautista said that a Smartmatic official only tweaked the script of the server to replace a “?” to “ñ” in a candidate’s name.

READ: Comelec asks Marcos: Present proof of fraud

“It is true that someone from Smartmatic corrected a script—from ‘?’ to ‘ñ’—but this does not affect the integrity of the numbers,” Bautista said in an interview  aired over Radyo Inquirer.

Asked if there was a glitch in the transmission of the results, Bautista said that there was none.

“Wala pong glitch (There’s no glitch),” he said.

In a press conference on Wednesday, lawyer Francesca Huang alleged that the new script put in the server increased Robredo’s votes.

“We received unsettling information that at past 7:30 p.m. on May 9, 2016 Election Day, a new script or computer command was introduced to the transparency server—the very same server from which the PPCRV (Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting) obtains its data for the quick count,” Huang said.

As of the latest unofficial tally, Robredo leads with a hairline margin of more than 210,000 votes over Marcos. RAM/rga

READ: Robredo maintains 200K lead over Marcos on day 3 of unofficial tally