A Thorough Study of Manual and Automated Elections in the Philippines

A Thorough Study of Manual and Automated Elections in the Philippines By Gil M. Camaymayan

Introduction

Election is an exercise of democracy wherein the people determine through their votes, individuals who would represent them in the government. It’s a process guaranteed in our

constitution and such right to vote are vested to each citizen as long as they possess the qualifications established by law. Election could either make or break a country as can be reflected in our history and through our past leadership either in the smallest unit of government in the baranggay or to the highest position of the land. The constitutional right to suffrage which in turn enables qualified voters to choose their representatives in government should do so with a sense of responsibility and awareness for the common good of the public rather than for the benefit of a single person. As most people say that taking part in an election is equivalent to taking part in History for constituted officials as a result of an election would determine what a future holds for a specific country. Rules, regulations and laws relating to the election process is being observe, manage, implemented, enforced and executed by the Commission Of Election or COMELEC. COMELEC is a constitutional commission whose power and authority is established and defined under Section 2 of Article IX-C of the 1987 Constitution. The past few elections have prompted a call for a reform of the voting system to reduce the chaos that often ensues on Election Day, Last May 2010 after tremendous preparation; the Philippines experienced its first Philippine Automated Elections which was provided by the Philippine Republic Act 9369 known as the “Poll Automation Law”. It gave a fresh glimpse of experience to the national  and local

candidates and most of all the voters to see how automation polls gunned up with more effective and efficient electoral processes from its casting of voters’ ballots until the canvassing

and proclamation of the winners. But before we dig through further with this newly introduced concept of an automated election in the Philippines, we need to further investigate and 1

understand how a manual election works in order to further appreciate or reject this new concept.

Election Process Manual Election Process

Nomination

Election Campaign

Polling

Counting Votes

Election Results

Figure 1.0

Nomination/Filing of Candidacy COMELEC shall define periods when it would accept certificate of candidacy of candidates on various electoral posts. Any person running his candidacy needs to file a sworn certificate of candidacy in the Office of the Election Officer in cities and municipalities nationwide. The format of the COCs may be obtained from the Election Officer. Candidate shall file the certificate of candidacy personally or by his duly authorized representative. No certificate of candidacy shall be filed or accepted by mail, telegram or facsimile. COMELEC shall provide for a resolution and enforce applicable laws in determining qualified candidates and disqualify or declare nuisance against unfit and improper candidates. COMELEC shall announce the names of candidates and their parties contesting the election. Election Campaign COMELEC shall define its rules and regulations regarding election campaigns by setting dates for its start and end on the basis of applicable laws. Qualified Candidates and their representative can start their campaigning on the duly specified date. These activities would include affixing of posters, talks, distribution of pamphlets, and campaigning from house to house. Certain campaign restrictions may also be implemented to establish a fair and equal election. 2

COMELEC as a constitutional body that organize, regulate and administer the election process shall have the power to define the following upon an election campaign: 

Prohibited contributions



Prohibited Raising of Funds



Allowed/Lawful expenditures for Philippine campaign



Statement of Contributions and Expenses

Polling

On polling day, qualified registered voters would cast their votes on specified polling precincts from which they are assigned. For each precinct a Board of Elections Inspectors (BEI) shall be responsible for conducting the voting and counting of votes for a precinct at the polling station. It shall compose of three people: a chairman, a poll clerk, and a member. Before Polling begins the BEI should arrive with the polling materials at the polling place at least one hour before the commencement of polling. The polling place should open promptly at 7:00 AM, and remain open continuously until 3:00 PM. Voters should then be allowed into the polling place one by one, and should inform the Chairman of their name and address, who will then look up their name in the Voter’s List. The voter is then required to sign next to their name

on the EDCVL. The Chairman will authenticate the ballot by signing the back, then fold the ballot in such a manner that its face will be covered but the detachable coupon bearing the serial number is visible, then direct the voter to an empty desk. The voter, upon receiving his folded ballot, will go to an empty desk. Only one voter is allowed at a desk at one time and immediately begins marking his ballot. After filling up the ballot, the voter re-folds the ballot and returns it to the Chairman. The Chairman confirms the serial number on the ballot is the same as that recorded for the voter, then requires the voter to press their right thumb into the inkpad, and then put a thumbprint on the detachable stub and on the corresponding space on the EDCVL. The Chairman will then sign in the appropriate space on the EDCVL.

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The third member of the BEI will then apply a drop of indelible stain ink at the base and extending to the cuticle of the right index fingernail of the voter. The Chairman will then detach the coupon and put it in the compartment for spoiled ballots, and return the ballot to the voter, who will put the ballot in the compartment for valid ballots. The polling place will remain open until three o'clock in the afternoon of Election Day. If at three o'clock there are still voters waiting to vote, their names will be recorded by the poll clerk and they will be allowed to vote. No one who arrives after 3:00 PM will be allowed to vote. When all remaining voters have cast their ballots the polling place will close. The Chairman will first record the quantity of unused ballots and their serial numbers, and will then, in the presence of the members of the BEI and watchers, tear the unused ballots without removing the stubs and detachable coupons. This would serve as a counter measure to prevent election fraud using the unused ballots. Counting Votes

The Counting of Votes serves as the most tedious process of all the steps. This is conducted after the polling stating has closed and the last qualified voter has cast his vote. Counting of votes will be conducted in public and without interruption. Appointed watchers for political parties and candidates and accredited nonpartisan observers have the right to observe all aspects of the counting process, including setting up for the count, the reading of ballots, and the marking of votes on the tally board and polling returns. Watchers can read the votes in the ballots but not touch any election document A Reconciliation process is also done manually to ensure that the total number of ballots received is the same as the number of votes cast and the unused ballots. The conduct of counting of votes is done by the BEI unfolding the ballots and arranges them in piles. The Chairman of the BEI shall take the ballots of the first pile one by one and read the names of the candidates voted for and the offices for which they were voted as well as the name of the party, organization or coalition voted for under the party-list system, in the order in which they appear. As each level of election is read, the Chairman will make a determination 4

if the vote is valid. As each vote is read out, it will be recorded on the election returns and the tally board. After finishing the first pile of ballots the total for each candidate will be written on the election returns and tally sheet after the last tally mark. The same procedure shall be observed for the second and third pile until all the votes are counted. Announcement of Election Results

After all the ballots have been read and counted the BEI will write in words and figures the total votes obtained by each candidate by each party, organization or coalition participating under the party-list system, in the designated space on the Election Returns and in the Tally Board. The Chairman will then announce the number of votes received by each candidate and the corresponding office. At this point the Poll Clerk should take the Election Return to the Tally Board and invite the watchers to confirm that the results recorded on the Tally Board are the same as those recorded on the Election Return. The BEI members will then sign and thumbprint the forms, and the watchers of the six principal political parties will also be asked to sign and thumb mark the returns. The BEI will then give copies the Election Returns to the representative of the dominant majority party, the dominant minority party, and of the COMELEC citizen's arm. Manual Elections

Elections in the Philippines have long been branded as dirty and violent. Election law violations have already become the norm during such occasion. Rampant vote buying, flying and ghost voters, election frauds, violence, coercion, duress and intimidation are rampant and plaque most parts of the country specially those in the province and far flank areas wherein civil unrest usually does occur. Typically such concerns and issues occur during the Election Polling and Counting of Votes. These two steps in the election process are considered to be the most crucial part of the election process and are mostly done manually by individuals assigned in the polling precincts. In any process human intervention are always prone to human errors and concerns thus resulting to a deviation to an improper or incorrect output or result. People with evil intention 5

usually takes advantage of this to further their own personal and selfish interest without giving regards to the process and specially to the sovereign will of the people. In the end it would be the country and the people who would bear the burden of the mistakes and evil acts of the few. Recent elections have prompted calls for a reform of the voting system, on 2010 Election the COMELEC has implemented and IT automated election through the use of PCOS (Precinct Count Optical System) Machines. This was provided by Republic Act 9369, to encourage transparency, credibility, fairness, and accuracy of elections. The implementation was not perfect and has its own issues and problems but in the end the public was satisfied with the results. The implementation of an automated election is a ground breaking improvement compared to our previous process. As any other process it has its own benefit and disadvantage which we would be weigh-in in the next part.

Automated Elections Introduction

As early as 1992, the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) has identified the modernization of the electoral process as a goal of what was called Operation MODEX (MODEX for “Modernization and Excellence”) but no significant and concrete plan and implementation were

established yet. In 1997, RA 8436 was passed into law, authorizing COMELEC to implement an automated system in the May 1998 elections, and in subsequent national and local elections. However due to lack of preparation, time and funding, it has led to the use of the automated process only in several provinces. In 2007, RA 9369, amending RA 8436, was passed “to encourage transparency, credibility, fairness, and accuracy of elections.” An automated electoral process on a nationwide scale was

first enforced in the 2010 elections. During the course of the election Four hundred sixty-five vote counting machines were reported as malfunctional, but 75,882 machines worked smoothly. Compared to past elections where the winners were known after weeks or months, 6

local winners were determined in a few hours, while half of the national winners were known after a day. Regardless of the problems encountered before and after the election, most people are satisfied with the election process and the voting results. The international community has also noticed and commended the Philippines for its successful implementation of an automated election. Improved Election Process

Automated Election Process

PCOS Machine

Nomination

Election Campaign

Polling

Counting Votes

Election Results

Figure 2.0

The automation on the election process only deals with the process of counting of votes and the declaration of election results. In view with this, it should not be considered as a fully automated election since the a utomation wasn’t from end to end, meaning from the beginning or start of the process (Polling) until the end (Announcement of Results). This should only be considered as a partial automation of the election process from which only two out of the 5 process was automated and the paper ballot has not yet been eliminated. Through the implementation of the PCOS machines which reads an electronically watermarked ballot to identify its validity, the process of vote counting would be done automatically by the machine by making a tally if the shaded oval that represents a vote against an elective official. The PCOS has an internal memory that stores election results and audit logs. Through this the result of the election can be determined just hours in a local election and a few days in the national election compared a manual election wherein results are determined by several weeks.

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The biggest impact in my view on the implementation of this automated process is the effect it would have on the Election related violence during the whole election process, since the removal of manual intervention of the last two processes in election is now done automatically performed, thus giving less opportunity and reduction on the possibility of an election crime commission. Below are data from the PNP in relation to incidents of poll related violence recorded from the past 5 elections. Election Related Violence Election Year

Number Of Incidents

Percentage

2001

269

0.00%

2004

249

7.43%

2007

229

14.87%

2010

176

34.57%

2013

81

69.89% Table 1.0

Election Related Violence Incidents 300 250 2001

200

2004 150

2007

100

2010 2013

50 0 2001

2004

2007

2010

2013

Chart 1.0

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Basing from the table and charts above a drastic decrease on Election related violence since the implementation of the automated election process since 2010, there was a 34.57% decrease compared to 2001 and it was twice as low as compared to 2007. The lowest number of decrease was in 2013 but we had to consider the type of election conducted back then compared to 2010 which was a national election. Aside from the benefit of getting an election result faster and a reduction of election related violence, the implementation of a so called automated election also has its own disadvantages but what we need to keep in mind and what we need to consider is to weigh whether this disadvantages outweigh the benefits from this newly improved process. Concerns and Lessons Legality

The transition from manual to automated elections is a long process. Its constitutionality and validity are still being questioned for there were some legal provisions criticized as inconsistent with automated elections or too ambiguous but most stakeholders agree that there is a solid legal foundation upon which to conduct automated elections. This is something to be expected for an individual through its nature in general always tries to reject change. People in general are afraid of change for it is a deviation from what they are accustomed to, but in order for us to survive we need to adopt and embrace change for it is the only way that we could evolve and improve. We should treat it as a necessity rather than an option for it enables us to move forward and improve ourselves not only as individuals but as a country as a whole. Keep in mind necessity is the mother of all inventions. Accountability

In-house capability is crucial for ensuring accountability of the exercise. The COMELEC faced an enormous challenge to remain in control of the relationship with the vendor, Smartmatic. This was due in part to the COMELEC staff not yet building the in-house capacity to manage the

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vendor. The COMELEC should create its own body of experts in-house and not rely on the vendor to ensure accountability in every step of the process. This would also remove the concept of indispensability on the part of the vendor thus diminishing the possibility of abuse and demands as such. The accountability of the whole automation process could have been enhanced significantly, had the COMELEC properly implemented post-audit mechanisms. Implementation of a sufficient post-audit mechanism would allow for a credible check on official election results. This would also take away concerns of the PCOS machine generating an incorrect tally of votes. IT groups and election observation groups did not coordinate well enough to take advantage of each other’s comparative strengths, knowledge and networks.  Better coordination and

cooperation among civil society actors could have helped pair IT expertise with election monitoring experience and methodologies to more effective election observation efforts. The accountability of an election does not only rest as a responsibility of the government but by all citizenry. This would ensure a fair, peaceful and free election. Security and Secrecy

Ensuring the security of electoral processes was a significant challenge during the transition to automated elections. While a range of security features were initially planned, several of these features were not implemented or did not function as planned. Several election observation groups and IT experts alleged that the range of security vulnerabilities exposed the system to possible manipulation, fraud and failure. In most cases, failure to implement planned security features was attributed to a lack of sufficient time. This is something that needs to be addressed as soon as possible for system vulnerability especially in regards to security could either make or break a system. The automated election was instituted to solve problems not to create new ones. Secrecy of the ballot, with respect to the PCOS machines, was not raised as a concern during the 2010 elections. Some critics argued voters should have been able to confirm how the 10

machine recorded their votes by having the machine briefly flash on its screen the voters’

choices as recorded, but others contended it could have compromised secrecy. This should not be an issue at all as long as there is an assurance that what was reflected on the ballot should be reflected on the system. Transparency

While the COMELEC appeared to make a genuine attempt to be transparent during some parts of the electoral process, this was not always sufficient to meet international best practice and to gain the trust and confidence of key stakeholders. In some cases, transparency was sacrificed for expediency. In other cases, critics allege that transparency was restricted because of sensitivity to criticism during what was a very challenging transition to automated elections nationwide. The issue of the source code always does arise when the transparency issue is raised for experts in the field of IT are skeptic on how the machine counts the vote. Whether it does it correctly as how it was reflected n the paper ballot or does it do other processing that could affect the counting due to a glitch in the code. Sustainability

Cost considerations are a major challenge for ensuring sustainability of automated elections. Despite extensive consideration of the full costs of moving toward automation, some challenges did emerge. With the budget allotted, the COMELEC could not lease enough machines to maintain even a fraction of the number of precincts in previous elections. This led to the need to cluster precincts, which was cited as a major cause of the long lines on Election Day. Estimation and allocation of appropriate budget should be emphasize during the general appropriation in order to further improve and sustain this newly improved process. Several people interviewed emphasized how much more complex and challenging the automated elections were to conduct compared to manual elections. They noted that electronic technologies should not be seen as a way to address capacity shortcomings in managing elections. The 2010 experience showed the challenges of implementing electronic 11

technologies without having enough leadership and staff with IT expertise and experience, as well as a high degree of project management capacity. This should have been addressed by the government by educating the voters on the new process of election. We should always remember that Ignorance is bliss and misinformation is a result of miscommunication. Trust

The COMELEC faced a significant challenge in building trust in the election processes. Following the elections, however, overall trust and satisfaction with the elections increased significantly. Many attributed this boost in trust as a result of the speediness of the results and the absence of reported widespread Election Day failures. The fact that more than 90 percent of precinct results were reported on election night was viewed as a significant achievement, and the presidential election results reflected the exit polls almost exactly. These factors helped bolster voter trust and mitigated the potential for post-election violence. However, the lack of transparency of certain aspects of the process reduced trust among election observation groups and IT experts, as well as some parties and candidates. Several interviewees noted the increased trust in 2010 was partially due to the novelty and pride associated with the Philippines conducting the first nationwide automated elections and the wide margin of victory in the presidential race, which mitigated potential complaints. They cautioned that this trust may not be sustained unless significant efforts are made to address problems and security vulnerabilities in the succeeding elections. Conclusion

There is no such thing as a perfect system or process. There would always be issues, problems or concerns but what is important is that the benefit and advantage received should always be greater than the disadvantage suffered. The main purpose of automating a process is to make the things easier, lighter, reliable and cheaper in the long run but the result would then be otherwise then there would be no point making such change.

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In the implementation of the automated election in the Philippines the benefit reaped indeed has outweighed the concerns and issues encountered. As to any process what it needs are responsible and competent people to have It sustained and maintained, thus ensuring a more reliable, peaceful and free election. It is the first step that the government needs in order to gain the trust and confidence of the people and to believe again on the system that their will are preserved and heard, through the protection of their vote and ensuring that their votes are accounted for in every election. For every vote does count and every citizen matters and that election as a sacred process should be respected and properly observed.

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