SC asked to stop poll automation deal

(Updated 8:17 p.m.) MANILA, Philippines - A group of lawyers and concerned citizens on Thursday asked the Supreme Court to stop the Commission on Elections (Comelec) from signing the multi-billion poll automation contract with the Smartmatic/Total Information Management (TIM) consortium. In its 49-page petition for certiorari, mandamus, and prohibition, the Concerned Citizens Movement (CCM), represented by lawyer Harry Roque, questioned the Comelec for picking Smartmatic/TIM as the winning bidder despite the joint venture’s alleged failure to conform with several requirements in the bidding. The contract is set for signing on Friday. "We are not against poll automation. Tutol kami sa labag sa batas at sa automated polls na walang kredibilidad [We are against an automated election that is illegal and has no credibility]," Roque said. Half of the petitioners are members of the Roque and Butuyan Law Offices, while the other half identified themselves in the petition as concerned citizens and taxpayers. Named respondents in the petition were Comelec chairman Jose Melo, Comelec Special Bids and Awards Committee chair Ferdinand Rafanan, Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya, and Smartmatic-TIM. The group accused Comelec of violating Section 6 of Republic Act 8436, or the law on poll automation, which orders the poll body to conduct a pilot test in at least two highly-urbanized cities first before awarding a contract. The petitioners argued that the automated polls in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) – in which Smartmatic was one of the participating firms – could not count as a pilot test since they used technologies different from the one that would be used in 2010. In the ARMM polls last August 2008, two types of counting machines were used, namely a direct recording electronic (DRE) machine and an optical mark reader (OMR) machine. The DRE machines – placed in Maguindanao precincts – used touch-screen pads and monitors, while OMR machines – used for the rest of ARMM – read the special paper-based ballots that are filled out by voters. For the 2010 polls, Smartmatic-TIM is planning on using what it called an improved version of the OMR – the precinct count optical scan (PCOS). The CCM also said the consortium was not able to meet the legal process for the bidding because it did not apply for incorporation before the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) when it participated in the bidding. Smartmatic and its local partner won the bidding after offering the lowest bid of P7 billion, or almost P4 billion lower than the P11.3-billion budget for the automation of next year’s national elections. In filing their petition, Roque noted that Smartmatic has admitted in its Web site that it has a level of error of between two to 10 percent, which he said does not match Comelec’s requirement of 1.5 percent. The signing of the contract was deferred last week after TIM backed out of its joint venture with Smartmatic. The two firms later ironed out their differences. - GMANews.TV