Voter Education: Transparent Automated Elections

On Monday, April 7, a prototype of the new Automated Counting Machine will be at the center of the stage “live” at the gym of the Mariners Polytechnic Colleges Foundation, in the campus of Baras in Canaman, Camarines Sur, for a Voter Education forum and a demo of the new automated election system with the provider, the Automated Counting Machines (ACMs) from South Korea’s Miru Systems Co. Ltd which replaced the old Smartmatic PCOS, or Precinct Count Optical System. Tabang Bikol Movement initiated the event to help acquaint the invited stakeholders – including first-time young voters among the students and other stakeholders – and prepare them for the anticipated “birth pains” associated with the use of the MIRU ACMs in the Philippines for the first time. Transparency is paramount for a credible voting system. This is exemplified by the theme: “Kumusta Boto mo, Mabibilang ba nang husto?” forum with Comelec Commissioner Nelson J. Celis, an IT expert himself who consistently promotes transparent automated elections, and Comelec Regional Director Atty. Jane Valeza.

Transparency. For 15 years and four elections, Smartmatic’s PCOS system reigned supreme as the provider of automated polls since the Philippines transitioned from manual to computerized elections in 2010. But all that changed after the May 2022 national and local elections. IT experts and civil society groups came together to file the disqualification of the Venezuelan-owned Smartmatic from participating in the next elections due to serious material irregularities and a lack of transparency. These included incidents of early transmission of election returns (ERs) and voting results from a single IP address deemed dubious.

In November 2023, the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) disqualified Smartmatic, effectively barring it from participating in any bidding process. I was particularly relieved. I was an integral part of studies on the AES (Automated Election System) since 2009, in partnership with the Center for People Empowerment in Governance (CenPEG) and the University of the Philippines College of Law in Diliman. I headed a broad-based national coordinating study and monitoring group that examined 30 vulnerabilities of the system and 30 safeguards identified to address these. The two-year study, with a grant from the European Union, titled “Action to Protect the Integrity of the Vote and Transparency of the 2010 Elections,” was a challenging journey for the researchers as they navigated complex issues in Congress, at the Comelec, and in the public sphere faced with a highly expectant public excited about a new election system.

However, from beginning to end, the research team members were unanimous that, while computerized elections were fast, paperless, and less rigorous, the issues of transparency, security, and integrity of the vote are more significant concerns than speed and convenience.  A credible election is a democratic exercise where the rights of the people begin with freely choosing their candidates and participating in the public counting of their votes, as well as ensuring the timely transmission of results.

Transparency is disclosure. In a 650-page Report submitted to the Comelec, the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee, and the Senate Committee on Electoral Participation chaired by Senator Koko Pimentel, CenPEG cited the overriding concern for transparency throughout the entire process, from preparation to voting and transmission, as a safeguard to reduce the risk of blunders and operational failures. It invoked Section 12 of RA 9369, which states, “Once an AES technology is selected for implementation, the Commission shall promptly make the source code of that technology available and open to any interested political party or group that may conduct its review thereof.” The need for source code disclosure is urgent, as it is a crucial step in ensuring the integrity of the election process. CenPEG filed a case in the Supreme Court to compel the COMELEC to disclose the source code, and it won. However, other transparency safeguards, such as digital signing, UV lamps, and ballot security, were often overlooked. In 2013, the lack of safeguards contributed to what another watchdog described as a “technology and political disaster,” resulting in 8.6 million votes being affected due to incidents of gaps, failures, and glitches.

“Was my vote counted?” was a perennial question in past elections in the Smartmatic PCOS election system.  It will also concern the new ACM used in the 2025 elections, primarily since the system has never been used in any elections anywhere in the world. Election observers say that the Smartmatic PCOS and the Miru ACMs are worlds apart, with the ACM being a more advanced electronic system. The PCOS uses OMR (optical mark recognition), which combines paper ballots with electronic counting. At the same time, the ACM is a DRE (direct recording electronic) system that utilizes a keyboard or touchscreen accompanied by a paper receipt. However, they are both the same; they are machines with the source code controlling the computer’s operation. Full disclosure of the source code is, therefore, imperative.

Another feature of transparency that should be a primary requirement to reduce system risk is the ability to enable the Voter Verification feature of the machine. The Voter Verification feature is not just a feature but a crucial aspect in ensuring the accuracy of the election process. In 2010, the COMELEC  turned off this feature, which was a big mistake. By turning off this feature, voters could not verify whether the machine had correctly read their ballots. The COMELEC should enable this feedback feature in the machine. The feedback printed on paper or displayed on the screen is referred to as the Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT). After seeing it, the voter deposits it in a secure ballot box. However, to enhance the transparency of the process, the COMELEC may allow the VVPATs to be displayed or viewed again as part of a post-election audit. Verifying that the machine reads correctly and transmits data accurately is crucial in automated elections.