Militants doubt Comelec can test all PCOS machines before polls

With just 100 days to go before the country's first nationwide automated polls on May 10, can the Commission on Elections finish testing and fixing faulty counting machines? Militant alliance group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) posed this question after glitches marred tests of the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines last Friday. “There were many defects in the machines and there were lapses in the system. The Comelec and Smartmatic people seemed ill-prepared to cope with the problems. With 100 days left till Election Day, we are concerned that there may not be enough time to address these crucial problems," Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr. said on the Bayan Website. Ongoing tests covered the scanning of ballots by the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines and the transmission of election results to the municipal canvassers and the Comelec’s central server. But Bayan also said there were other problems it observed from Friday's field test in Pateros. These are: 1. The PCOS machine failed to read 4 out of 10 valid ballots, resulting in a 40% failure rate. No satisfactory and definitive explanation was available from both the Comelec and Smartmatic personnel present at the test. 2. There were difficulties in internet connection both from the precinct and the Municipal Board of Canvassers. The MBOC relied on General packet radio service (GPRS) and had to change SIM cards when it could not get a stable connection. Why did it not use the existing stable internet connection at the municipal hall? 3. Failing to transmit data after using the 3 SIM cards, shift to satellite technology was authorized. The Smartmatic technician seemed ill-prepared to set up the Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) satellite device. The transition from GPRS to BGAN did not run smoothly as the technician, not prepared to set up the BGAN, had to get instructions over the phone. The worst scene was when he was trying to get a random signal around the school grounds by holding the device above his head. 4. It took three hours to transmit data using different systems. The delay may be attributed to the lack of preparedness of the Comelec-Smartmatic officials in dealing with machine failure. Comelec though considers it a success that data was still transferred. 5. The BGAN device was the second to the last option. The Smartmatic technician said the satellite device will only be deployed in areas where signal is weak, such as far flung provinces. He was not sure if such a device will also be deployed in highly urbanized areas where cell site signals are strongest. The failed transmission was in Pateros in eastern Metro Manila. “Problems during field tests are understandable. What is alarming is that there seems to be very little time to fix these problems. Even more alarming is the attitude displayed by Comelec and Smartmatic that everything is on track. No real contingencies have been put in place," Reyes said. “With these test results, you cannot blame people if they think of failure of elections in May," he added. Bayan also reiterated the call by watchdogs to properly test and certify the machines to avoid the problems encountered in Aguho Elementary School where four valid ballots were not read. “Comelec needs to test some 82,000 machines. It claims it can do this in less than two months by having 300 technicians work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. As of January 27, they have only tested 72 machines and have yet to hire all 300 technicians," Reyes said. “Contingency plans must also be put in place now. We cannot simply rely on blind faith on these machines lest we regret it on May 10," he added. Commenting on the glitches in the field tests, Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal said the problem was due to the defect in the SIM card and not in the poll machine. He added that the problems encountered in the field tests would help the commission improve the automated election system before the May 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. [See: Glitches hound 2nd field test of Comelec’s voting machines] - LBG, GMANews.TV