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Glitches hound 2nd field test of Comelec’s voting machines


(Update 3 - 6:57 PM) Glitches in ballot-reading and transmission of election results have again hounded the second field test of automated voting machines conducted by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Friday. A precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machine tested in Aguho Elementary School in Pateros failed to read four out of 10 valid sample ballots on Friday.
A technician is the paragon of concentration, troubleshooting a faulty poll machine during a field test on Friday in a Pateros public school. GMANews.TV
At the same time, three SIM (subscriber identity module) cards from three telecommunications networks used by the Comelec on Friday failed to transmit election results from the municipal precinct of Pateros to the Comelec national office and the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP). The failure to read ballots and transmit election results were witnessed by at least three observers from the non-government Center for People Empowerment in Governance and the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan). “Nakita namin na ni-reject ng PCOS machine ang mga balota. (We saw that the PCOS machine rejected the ballots). These were read as invalid," Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr. told GMANews.TV in a phone interview on Friday. Reyes added that the transmission of election results through the use of a SIM attached to a modem was successful from Aguho elementary school to the municipal precinct.
However, data transmission from the municipal precinct to the Comelec office and the KBP became a problem after three different brands of SIM failed to transmit data, Reyes added. “The SIM was changed thrice. They tried to send the data for about two hours but there was no signal. The election results could not be sent to the Comelec and the KBP," said Reyes. Satellite transmission ‘not easy’ He said the Comelec later decided to use a satellite network to transmit the data. However, the satellite network was only able to send data to the Comelec and the KBP on the second attempt, Reyes said, adding that the process wasn’t easy. A technician from the Smartmatic-TIM – the company which supplied the poll machines – had to carry the satellite into the schoolyard to find a signal. “Hindi ganun kadaling humanap ng signal. Paikot-ikot yung technician sa labas dala-dala ang satellite machine…Pinahiram pa siya ng tripod ng TV camera man para ma-prop ang satellite," explained Reyes. (Finding a satellite signal wasn’t that easy. The technician had to go outside carrying the satellite machine… A TV cameraman had to lend him a tripod to prop-up the satellite.) “It was just supposed to take minutes, but it took the Comelec about three hours before it could transmit elections results. They started about 9 a.m. and was able to finish the process at about 11:55 a.m.," he added. A report aired over QTV’s Balitanghali – gathered from the field by GMA News’ John Consulta – corroborated accounts of witnesses, including those narrated by Reyes. This is the second time that the Comelec’s field test failed to proceed smoothly after a poll machine on Wednesday initially failed to transmit data due to a defective SIM card. No longer pristine? Reyes said the PCOS machine and the sample ballots used during Wednesday’s field test were the same equipment and ballots used on Friday. “The Comelec could not accurately explain why the same machine and ballots used in the previous test failed on Friday’s field test," he said. Gene Gregorio, Smartmatic spokesperson, told reporters that the PCOS machine could have failed to read the ballots on Friday because some of them were crumpled. “Kasi ho ‘yung ballots na ‘yun ang ginamit nung nakaraang araw nung unang field testing. Ang dinig ko, parang nalumpot na yung ballots so hindi na s’ya pristine," Gregorio said. (The ballots used were the same ones in the first field testing. From what I heard, the ballots were already crumpled and were no longer pristine.) However, he assured the public that the field tests were being conducted to ensure the process would go smoothly. “Itong field testing po ay isang process po ng fine-tuning. Sinusubukan natin ang lahat ng paraan para magkaroon tayo ng best practices sa Mayo 10," Gregorio said. (This field test is a process of fine-tuning. We are doing everything we can to ensure that we'll be able to meet best practices on May 10.) Delayed transmission in another field test In the meantime, data transmission during a separate field test of another poll machine at the Pateros Elementary School on Friday was also delayed by around 30 to 40 minutes, GMA News’ Consulta said in his report. Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal said the problem encountered in Pateros Elementary School was due to the defect in the SIM card and not in the poll machine. Larrazabal also confirmed that the Comelec encountered problems in the field test in Aguho Elementary School. The commissioner said the problems would help the commission improve the automated election system before the polls. "Again, the purpose of the test is exactly that, it's to test the system, and there are some things that we observed today which will help us in the conduct of the elections in May," said Larrazabal at a press briefing at the Comelec office in Intramuros, Manila on Friday. He said Smartmatic and Dominion Voting Systems of Canada, the firm that owns the technology used in the PCOS machine, would check why the equipment failed to read the ballots. "Dominion and Smartmatic are looking at it, also Comelec. As soon as they come out with a report, we'll inform the public," said Larrazabal. Despite the glitch, Larrazabal said “the test was successful," based on the Comelec’s “parameters." Election officials said that the machines were tested in areas where it was difficult to get a signal. - RJAB Jr./ARCS, GMANews.TV
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