Smartmatic assumes responsibility for PCOS machine glitches

(Updated 8:05 p.m.) Poll machine supplier Smartmatic-Total Information Management (TIM) has assumed responsibility for the glitches in the voting machines that were tested on Monday. "If it's a technology issue, it's our responsibility," Smartmatic Asia president Cesar Flores said at a press briefing on Tuesday. The Smartmatic official issued the statement after some Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines tested in Makati, Muntinlupa, and Pateros in Metro Manila and in Batangas and Occidental Mindoro provinces counted votes for local candidates who were not even marked on the ballot, among other discrepancies. (See: Some poll machines fail to read votes accurately) Commission on Elections (Comelec) spokesman James Jimenez had earlier explained that the problem was in the compact flash (CF) cards inside the PCOS units. (See: Glitches prompt Comelec to stop testing of poll machines) Flores said that the CF card tells the PCOS machine what type of ballot it will read. But he said a "configuration issue" caused the machine to not read the votes of some local bets. He said that the CF cards were not properly configured to read the votes cast on the back of the ballot where there are spaces between the names of candidates. The Comelec had earlier decided to change the orientation of the listing of candidates on the ballot from vertical to horizontal, leaving more space on the back of the ballot. What's next The Smartmatic official said that they have already postponed the testing and the sealing of the PCOS all over the country until all CF cards have been checked or replaced. He also said that they have put a hold on the release of the voting machines from the regional hubs. "Technically it's an easy correction, (what's) challenging is how to make the CF cards available in the field... it is a logistical challenge," he said. Flores said that they will be able to correct the configuration of the CF cards and ship them out by Wednesday night. Testing and sealing, on the other hand, will supposedly resume on Thursday. "It's a tight schedule but it can be done," he said. He said that Smartmatic will pay for the cost of the recall and replacement of the CF cards. But he said they have yet to determine what to do with the defective CF cards. He added that they were not able to test the precinct-specific reading of the ballot beforehand because it would entail printing additional official ballots aside from those that will be used in the testing and sealing. "That is something many sectors in society wanted to prevent... this was always a concern," he said. Testing and sealing of the PCOS machines are scheduled to be conducted three to seven days before election day, ensuring that the equipment are in good working order. The Board of Election Inspectors — composed mostly of teachers — are expected to test 10 pre-shaded ballots and see whether the PCOS unit will be able to read the votes. Some 82,000 PCOS machines will be used in next week's polls, with about 6,000 as spares. Diminishing confidence Flores admitted that this was not the first time that such a problem occurred during an election. He said that similar glitches happened in California and New York in the United States, although he quickly noted that they were not in charge of these projects. "It was made public and it was solved before the elections," he said, adding that the said elections were verified with audits. The Comelec will be conducting a random manual audit of five precincts per legislative district, or a total of 1,145 precincts nationwide, right after voting closes on election day. However, the poll body said that it will not deter the proclamation of election winners. However, even poll body citizens' arm Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) chairman Henrietta De Villa said she was "alarmed" because only less than a week remains before the May 10 elections. "I will not be honest if I say that my confidence has not been diminished... ano pa kaya ang susunod (what could be next)," she said during the same press briefing. But former Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes was more sanguine in his assessment of the problem. In the middle of the Comelec’s question-and-answer session with the media, he stood up to condemn the misreading of votes by the PCOS machines. "This is not acceptable... the entire electoral process is failing," he said. A good thing? But Comelec Advisory Council member Rey Chua said that although what happened was a "setback," it showed that the glitches were not an attempt at electoral fraud. He said that the glitches were not "malicious," and the results did not particularly favor any candidate or party. Flores said that it was actually somehow a good thing that the problem propped up now, when it can still be fixed. "Unfortunately, it's an issue that came out very close to the elections but the good news is that we have time to solve it," he said. For his part, Comelec Commissioner Rene Sarmiento said that the poll body is still confident that a failure of elections will not happen. But Sarmiento said on Tuesday that they do not have any plans "as of the moment" of increasing the number of papers for manual counting despite the problems being encountered by the PCOS machines. The Comelec had earlier said that it has prepared 30 percent of the paraphernalia needed for a manual canvass. Jimenez said that they are preparing manual forms just in case they would need to conduct manual counting, as the last resort to several possible problems on election day. 'No cost except emotional cost' Asked by GMANews.TV if the Comelec plans to penalize Smartmatic for the series of glitches surrounding the deployment of the automated election system, Jimenez replied in a texted message: "What would you accomplish? We're seven days before polls. The first order of business is to get this going. And besides, there is no cost to the Comelec except, probably, the emotional cost." "Best to get the elections over and done with, and then we settle accounts," the Comelec spokesperson added. —JV, GMANews.TV