Probe sought on ‘wrong’ ink for UV markings on ballots

Senatorial aspirant Jose de Venecia III on Sunday called on the House of Representatives and the Senate to look into the reported use of wrong ink for ultraviolet security markings printed on ballots for the May 10 polls. De Venecia said the joint Congressional Oversight Committee on Poll Automation should determine whether the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and Smartmatic-Total Information Management Inc, the consortium that will automate the May 10 polls, conspired so that ballots would not be verified as genuine or not. “We urge the [committee] to immediately take cognizance of this seeming connivance of the Comelec and [Smartmatic-TIM] to remove a vital security safeguard for the [ballots] intended for our all-important electoral exercise," he said in a statement. Ultraviolet markings are security features used as a safeguard against fraud. A similar technology is used by banks to detect counterfeit paper money. The automated poll machines are originally expected not just to count and check the votes as marked on the ballots, but also to verify the authenticity of the ballots and reject counterfeit ones. GMANews.TV tried to reach the Comelec for comment, but no official is immediately available as of posting time. Smartmatic-TIM spokesperson Gene Gregorio said they would address the issue at a press conference Monday. Political analyst Ramon Casiple, a member of the Comelec Advisory Council, had earlier disclosed that Smartmatic-TIM failed to supply correct ink for ultraviolet security markings printed on ballots. Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal neither confirmed nor denied Casiple’s claims. With the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines unable to distinguish genuine ballots from fake ones, the Comelec was left with no choice but to use UV lamps to verify ballots’ authenticity. Casiple warned that the manual verification of ballots' authenticity is problematic because introducing another process in the automated polls might confuse voters further. In his statement, De Venecia said the Comelec should crack its whip on Smartmatic-TIM for supposedly covering up for its failure to acquire the right UV ink. “The Comelec is duty-bound to undertake remedial measures apart from penalizing its technology services provider for the grievous error," he said. De Venecia, an information technology expert, is the son of Pangasinan Rep. and former House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. He is running for senator under the Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino banner and also serves as the party's spokesperson on poll automation. - KBK, GMANews.TV