Issues in poll fraud hearing have been raised before, watchdog says

Matters raised last week by Makati City Rep. Teodoro Locsin Jr. — who heads a House committee looking into poll fraud claims — was already brought up by watchdog Compact for Peaceful and Democratic Elections weeks before the elections. "We told you so," the group said on Monday, after questions regarding the integrity of election returns were probed by the House Committee on Electoral Reforms and Suffrage, which is headed by Locsin. Before the elections, it has already warned that the lack of Board of Election Inspectors' digital signatures on poll returns would put the credibility of the automated elections at stake, Compact said in a statement. At a House hearing last week, Locsin said thousands of poll returns transmitted from the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines are void because the digital signatures were generated by the machines, and not by the Board of Election Inspectors manning them. On Monday, Compact co-convenor and former Akbayan Rep. Loretta Rosales said her group had already brought the matter to the attention of the Commission on Elections and the Supreme Court weeks before the May 10 polls. But Compact's request "fell on deaf ears" after the two bodies junked their petitions. “We have been shouting from the top of our lungs about this particular major lapse even before the elections, but all in vain. Now, all of a sudden, it is now considered a major issue to be looked into," Rosales said. “We are vindicated. We have been warning our institutions of this grim scenario. The lack of the legally required digital signatures to all the election returns transmitted could be challenged as illegal, result in a plethora of protests and put the credibility of the election process in question," she also said. In a resolution last March, the Comelec issued a guideline for BEIs directing them to press the "No" button when prompted by the PCOS machine with the question: "Would you like to digitally sign the transmission files with a BEI signature key?" However, Section 22 of Republic Act No. 8436 or the Poll Automation Law as amended by Republic Act No. 9369 requires transmitted election returns to come with digital signatures. “The election returns transmitted electronically and digitally signed shall be considered as official election results and shall be used as the basis for the canvassing of votes and the proclamation of a candidate," a portion of the law read. Locsin likewise insisted last week that the Electronic Commerce Act of 2000 (Republic Act No. 8792) recognizes electronic documents so long as these are authenticated by digital signatures. - RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV