by Billie Mercado and Earl Valenzuela

PRE-ELECTIONS

• Vote-counting machines supplied by COMELEC bought from Smartmatic are rigorously tested before final sealing; last-minute repairs are made if proven defective
• 2022 elections have only 1100 contingency machines, 2019 elections had 5000
• The number of clustered precincts was increased due to the approximate 7 million new voters

ELECTION DAY

• Presidential elections are held every second Monday of May every six years since 1992
• Precincts open at 6 a.m.
• 2022 presidential elections closed at 7 p.m., and the 2019 elections closed at 6 p.m.
• Poll watchers uphold their duties stated in the Omnibus Election Code – Article XIV
  • Poll watchers conduct the voting in their precincts,
  • Poll watchers count the votes in their precincts,
  • Poll watchers act as deputies of the COMELEC; and
  • Poll watchers perform other responsibilities upheld by the Commission.
• The COMELEC deliberates whether or not voting hours are extended due to delays and inconveniences.
  • The COMELEC did not extend voting hours beyond 7 p.m. on May 9 as they ‘did not see any justifiable reason’
  • Voters within a 30-meter radius of their precincts are allowed to cast their votes albeit beyond the 7 p.m. closing time
• If elections within localities are disrupted or are tampered with, the COMELEC may declare a failure of elections for these areas.
  • Circumstances include, but are not limited to electoral violence, proven cases of manipulation, etcetera.
  • COMELEC declared a failure of elections in three towns in Lanao del Sur due to electoral violence.
  • COMELEC will schedule a special election for these areas affected by the failure of elections.

POST-ELECTION

• Once the voting period finished, the electoral poll watchers initiated closing procedures. Then, eight copies of election returns, referred to as “virgin copies” were used for the initial online transmission of data.
• Data was then transmitted to these three servers: 
  • Transparency server (includes the PPCRV and Media Outlets)
  • Official server 
  • Canvassing server (serves as the basis for proclamation of candidates)

1. City/Municipal
2. Provincial
3. National Canvassing Center

i) Congress

ii) COMELEC

• Random Manual Audit (RMA), the process of determining the accuracy of the vote tally through comparing the physical count to the automated count, then occurs. RMA is supposed to take 45 days or 1.5 months.
• At the time of the conference, almost all local levels were done canvassing. Hence, canvassing work is now focused on the national level.

ELECTION-RELATED ANOMALIES

• The VCMs used are not in the best shape anymore.
  • The 2022 National Elections marks the third time using the same machines. 
  • Although the machines have been refurbished with the help of electronic voting company Smartmatic, the quality of such has since decreased. 
  • Only 1,100 contingency machines were used for the 2022 Elections, as compared to the 5,000 prepared for the 2019 Elections. COMELEC, however, said that this is due to the increase in clustered precincts.
• Election Watchdog Kontra Daya received around 9,000 reports of Vote Counting Machine (VCM) Errors.
  • Kontra Daya reported around 1,800 defective VCMs in total, and mainstream media also recorded a similar total at 2,000.
  • The number of malfunctioning machines may seem relatively small, but it is crucial that each breakdown is still taken into account as they were used by tens of thousands of voters.
  • Such errors resulted in voters having a longer waiting time, with others not getting the opportunity to cast their ballots at all.
• The shortcomings of the Election Day are manifestations of issues that have been plaguing the Philippines long before May 9, 2022.
  • Leading up to the election, there has been a multitude of election irregularities that COMELEC does not proactively respond to or solve. These include the following:
    • Distribution of illegal campaign materials
    • Suppression of voters
    • Vote-buying
    • Other probable suspicions (e.g. Dennis Uy of F2 Logistics, one of the corporations COMELEC has partnered with for this election, was a major campaign donor and is still a longtime friend of President Duterte.)
  • Disinformation, human rights violations, and the silencing and threatening of decent voices have affected the voting choices of Filipinos.
    • Rochelle Porras from Kontra Daya notes that one in five Filipinos find it difficult to identify false news.
    • While surveys and mock elections do undergo proper research methods, they may not exactly take into consideration the context of each voter (e.g. Are they a victim of historical revisionism? Do they fear losing their source of income if they do or do not vote for a specific candidate?)
    • The profound influence of political dynasties still continues to affect the voting preferences of Filipinos.
    • There is a lack of accountability and transparency in the governing powers of the Philippines.