Smartmatic: PCOS machines in perfect condition

By:  Sheila Crisostomo

The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines - Smartmatic International Corp. gave assurances that the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines used in the country’s first automated polls in 2010 are still in “perfect condition” and can be used again in next year’s elections.

In an interview last Thursday, Smartmatic president for Asia Pacific Cesar Flores said the machines are well maintained in the company’s warehouse in Laguna.

“There won’t be a problem with the machines.  They are in perfect condition,” he told The STAR, days after the Commission on Elections (Comelec) announced that they would again use the PCOS machines in the 2013 midterm elections.

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The Comelec has two options in acquiring the PCOS machines – to lease brand new machines through public bidding or to exercise the poll body’s “option to purchase” from Smartmatic.

Smartmatic was contracted for P7.2 billion by the Comelec to lease out 82,200 PCOS machines in the 2010 polls.  Of these, the agency bought 920 units for electoral protest cases while the rest were kept in Smartmatic’s Laguna warehouse.

The poll body however is in a quandary because it was given a measly P7-billion budget for the 2013 elections.  If Comelec decides to lease brand new machines, this will eat up P6.2 billion of the budget.

If the Comelec buys the 2010 PCOS machines, it will cost only P1.8 billion but some poll watchdogs and civic groups are wary of its condition while in storage and its alleged defects in the 2010 polls. They also questioned the security and accuracy of the machines.

But according to Flores, there is no reason to question the machines’ security and accuracy.

He added that the Random Manual Audit (RMA) conducted by the Parish Pastoral Council Voting (PPCRV) and the Comelec and the results of the recount proceedings for electoral protest cases being conducted by the poll body are “two validations” on the quality of the machines.

In RMA, the PPCRV and Comelec have randomly selected polling precincts where they audited the PCOS count against manual count.

In recount proceedings, on the other hand, the Comelec checks on the validity of an electoral protest case by comparing the poll results from 20 percent of the contested polling precincts with results when the ballots are manually counted.

Flores said the issues against PCOS machines had nothing to do with the technology.

“Many people are blaming the PCOS system on problems that were more procedural, managerial and even time-related or planning related.  They have nothing to do with the PCOS machines,” he maintained.

He cited for instance the disabling of the “ultraviolet (UV) rays capability” of the machines that prompted the Comelec to purchase handheld UV lamp scanners.

Flores said that if the timeline for the printing of the ballots was followed, this would have not happened.

The printing of the ballots at the government-run National Printing Office (NPO) was delayed for two months because the Comelec had extended the deadline for the filing of certificates of candidacy.

“The date to start printing the data was late so we had less time to print.  What happens when you print faster… you are injecting less ink in the paper.  What happens is the ultraviolet ink was not sufficient to be detected by the PCOS.  If we have more time to print, we could have, maybe, get up with a higher concentration of the chemical reaction or we could have printed slower,” he said.

Aside from this, Flores said that two days before the printing started, the NPO also insisted that its own security mark be included in the ballots, thus, further delaying the printing.

“We are being blamed for something we have zero fault,” he added.

Flores said since late 2010, the Comelec and Smartmatic have been working together to modify the PCOS system in preparation for the August 2011 regional election in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao which was shelved and synchronized with next year’s election.

“This was requested to us by the end of 2010, thinking about the ARMM election.  Changes were already implemented and these things have already been addressed by the Comelec and Smartmatic together,” he added.