‘Poll watchdog’s failing marks for Comelec misleading’

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said on Tuesday that an election watchdog is misleading the public when it gave the poll body failing marks for “vulnerabilities" in its preparations for the coming elections. “We didn’t even see (these) criteria that they are mentioning. The rating is very misleading," poll body spokesman James Jimenez said in a press briefing. Jimenez issued the statement after a group called the Automated Election Watch (AES Watch) gave the Comelec low marks in 20 categories on their so-called System Trustworthiness, Accountability, and Readiness (STAR) Scorecard. The AES Watch asserted that the poll body had failed in making the source code—the program of the software to be used in the automated polls—available for review. It also gave the Comelec a “warning" grade for 11 other items concerning poll preparations, a “danger" on eight others, and a passing grade on one item. But the spokesman said that it is not the Comelec’s efforts or preparedness that is flawed, but the survey or study conducted. “The truth is, the source code is being reviewed by a trusted third-party certifying authority and once it has been certified, the code will be available for review. So how can that be a failure?" he said. He also denied the group’s assertion that Comelec has yet to release the general instructions for the May polls. The Comelec came out with the GI on December 30 last year. [See: Guidelines for 2010 automated polls now out] But Jimenez said the poll body would be able to respond “more comprehensively" to the warnings given by the AES Watch as soon as it receives a copy of the scorecard and a detailed explanation for each of the marks given. “We feel that it is just fair not just to the Comelec but also to the public that the true background of this report and these ratings should be made known to everyone," he said. He added that although Comelec welcomes criticisms, he warned groups like the AES to be careful so as not to alarm the public unnecessarily with matters related to the elections. “Otherwise the public will unnecessarily fear the process, the public will unnecessarily lose faith in the electoral system we are pushing for in 2010. It is not a simple thing, it is not a minor thing to undermine the public’s confidence in the electoral system," he said. - Kimberly Jane T. Tan, GMANews.TV