SC asked to compel Comelec to choose new precincts for audit

The political group of a defeated presidential bet on Monday asked the Supreme Court to compel the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to select new clustered precincts for an immediate Random Manual Audit (RMA) and stop it from continuing a RMA of clustered precincts selected during the May 10 automated elections. In a nine-page petition, the Ang Kapatiran Party of John Carlos “JC" delos Reyes noted the “unjust delay" and the absence of transparency by the Comelec in conducting its RMA. “Each day that passes increases the risk that the integrity of the ballot boxes in the precincts selected for a RMA may be compromised and that the ballots therein tampered," the group said. Delos Reyes, along with fellow defeated presidential aspirants Sen. Jamby Madrigal and environmentalist Nicanor Perlas, have been questioning the results of the May 10 elections, citing reports of fraud from many areas nationwide.

Republic Act No. 9369 or the poll automation law requires the Comelec to conduct an RMA in one precinct per congressional district randomly chosen by the poll body in each province and city. The law states that any difference between the automated and manual count will result in the determination of root cause and initiate a manual count for those precincts affected by the computer or procedural error. Ang Kapatiran said two weeks after the elections, the RMA of the selected clustered precincts has not yet been completed and that the Comelec has not made any full disclosures as to reason for the delay as well as its current status and results. The petitioner noted that the delay is unjustifiable since the Comelec should’ve started the RMA immediately after the closing of the election period last May 10 as mandated under Comelec Resolution No. 8837. They also asked SC to compel the Comelec to comply with its legal mandate to strictly implement Resolution 8837 by fully disclosing the reasons for the delay in the conduct of the RMA, and by randomly selecting new precincts to replace the ones selected during election day. - KBK, GMANews.TV