Watchdog to Comelec: Release documents on poll automation

Election watchdog Center for People Empowerment in Governance (CenPEG) has asked the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to make public several documents relevant to its planned independent study of the recently concluded automated elections. In a statement, CenPEG said there is a need for a full disclosure in the documents related to the implementation of the first-ever nationwide automated polls before an unprejudiced assessment can be made. “An objective study can only be done if pertinent data and information, relevant to the study at hand, shall be accessible and available to researchers and scholars, so that a no-nonsense body of knowledge can be developed in the interest of public service and good governance," CenPEG said. Among the documents CenPeg wants released to the public are: - source code walkthrough plan; - source code of the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) program; - file formats of all data files used or produced by the PCOS program; - public keys used by all the PCOS computers; - public keys used by all the servers; - user manual of the PCOS program; and - the Smartmatic-Comelec contract with the complete annexes At the same time, CenPEG also demands documents that detailed the finance and budget plan of the AES-Smartmatic; copy of the Smartmatic Voters’ Education contract; report on the PCOS transmission on May 10 and thereafter; report on the training of Board of Election Inspectors and technicians; inventory of compact flash cards used in the final testing and sealing; and the re-configured CF cards for May 10. “Various stakeholders (need) to help find answers to many questions that affect the credibility of the elections, especially with regard to some unusual incidences occurring with the PCOS (precinct count optical scan) machines of the Smartmatic-propelled automated system," CenPEG said. Earlier, the Comelec announced its plans to tap foreign experts to perform and evaluate the first nationwide automated polls in the country. Comelec Spokesman James Jimenez had said that the introduction of the new system made it necessary for the election system to be evaluated. He explained that they want independent foreign experts to carry out the assessment and evaluation of the May 10 polls computerized elections since they wanted it to be free from any malice as well as to show that its credible. - KBK, GMANews.TV