Comelec chief on script tweak: No cheating done

Commission on Elections Chair Andres Bautista speaks during a special demonstration of the vote-counting machine to be used in the 2016 elections in Manila on April 4. INQUIRER PHOTO

No poll fraud.

That was the categorical statement issued by Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chair Andres Bautista on Thursday regarding claims of fraud leveled by some camps due to the change in the script of the transparency server made on Election Day.

In a press conference, Bautista reiterated that the change in the script of the transparency server—which corrected the “?” in the names of candidates with “ñ”—did not affect the results of the polls.

“The correction involves a mere cosmetic change. It does not, in any way, change the results, the counting and the canvassing of the votes and the source code of the automated election system,” Bautista said.

“There was no cheating whatsoever,” he added.

The change in the transparency script was effected at around 7 p.m. in the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) headquarters in the Pope Pius Center in Manila on May 9.

It was Smartmatic technical support team leader Marlon Garcia who changed the script after being notified of the character “?” in the names of the candidates.

The Comelec chief said the tweaking of the script was done openly in the presence of various political parties, the Comelec and members of the media.

“This change was done openly with the presence of political parties and members of media who were present as well as Comelec IT personnel. There was also a CCTV in place,” he said.

Commissioner Christian Robert Lim added that the tweak in the transparency script produced a new hash code—sparking questions from different camps as the new hash code did not match  the hash code of the data package they previously held.

Bautista advised those hurling allegations of cheating to produce evidence and compare with the data recorded in their three servers.

“All results can be compared to the printed election returns of vote counting machines, the electronic results transmitted from all the VCMs, the results on the Comelec’s central server and the transparency server as well as in the results published in the Comelec website,” he said.

The camp of vice presidential candidate Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. alleged that the change in hash code had cut down Marcos’ lead in a hotly-contested race against administration candidate Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo.

Robredo currently leads the race with a hairline margin of more than 210,000 votes against Marcos. RC/rga