Comelec approves random manual audit right after elections

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has approved a proposal to conduct the random manual audit (RMA) right after voting closes on election day in May. In a minute resolution dated April 15, the Comelec en banc approved the recommendation of the technical working group to conduct an RMA at the polling precincts "immediately after" the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines complete all its functions. "This arrangement debunks any perception that the integrity of the ballots has been compromised during the transfer of the ballot boxes from the precinct to the treasurer's office," it said. Section 24 of Republic Act 9369 requires a RMA to be conducted in one precinct per congressional district in each province and city. But after much prodding from groups, the poll body decided to increase this to five precincts per legislative district, which amount to 1,145 precincts. Each clustered precinct which will have one PCOS machine can only have up to 1,000 voters, so the number of precincts in each clustered precinct depends on the number of voters in each individual precinct. A total of 50,723,734 registered voters expected to flock the 76,340 clustered precincts nationwide on May 10. However, Comelec Commissioner Gregorio said that the conduct of the audit after voting closes does not necessarily contradict to their previous pronouncements that there would be no RMA before the proclamation of the elections winners. He said this is because the RMA wouldn't necessarily finish before the proclamation. But he said that the Commission plans to release a more detailed guideline for the conduct of the RMA. The minute resolution says that the random selection of the precincts to be audited will be done at the Comelec main office in Intramuros manila at 3 p.m. on election day. The selection will be done manually through the drawing of precincts by the technical working group together with the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee as overseers. Other personalities may also be invited to watch. The auditors will be the board of election inspectors (BEI) not belonging to the precinct being audited. It said the BEIs would be informed in advance of the possibility of being assigned to do the traditional manual count in a neary different precinct. The audit will be conducted in the presence of poll watchdogs, political parties, media, and the public. The positions to be audited include all national positions and five local positions, namely congressman, governor, vice governor, mayor, and vice mayor. In case of discrepancies, the Comelec Advisory Council has been tasked to determine its root cause. Smartmatic Asia President Cesar Flores, for his part, said that the difference between the manual and digital count would be minimal. "We believe in the system... go ahead open some ballots and see that there are no differences. And I can assure you, there will be no significant difference between the manual count and digital count," he said. On the other hand, Larrazabal said that the poll body is still in the process of determining whether there is a need for a parallel manual count during the automated polls. "It's being considered by the en banc right now and come out with the announcement in the coming days," he said. - RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV