THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday ordered systems provider Smartmatic International to explain the alleged data breach which was recently revealed in a closed-door meeting of the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee (JCOC) on the Automated Election System (AES).
In a statement, Elections chairman Saidamen Pangarungan said he has already directed Executive Director Bartolome Sinocruz to “demand from Smartmatic a submission of their internal investigation report.”
Parallel to it, Pangarungan said they have also asked the Comelec Law Department to look into the possible legal liabilities of Smartmatic if the allegations turn out to be true.
“We have directed the Law Department of the Comelec to conduct a review of the contract with Smartmatic, and to advise the courses of action to be taken by the Commission as may be provided by law and jurisprudence,” the poll chief said.
He said the Commission en Banc has also instructed Sinocruz to coordinate with the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) regarding the investigation.
The Comelec has likewise required the creation of a plan that will prevent a repeat of the incident.
“The Information Technology Department (is directed) to give a detailed plan to prevent occurrence of a similar or related issue,” said Pangarungan.
Pangarungan said all “preliminary” activities are being undertaken despite the absence of an actual hacking of the Comelec’s system.
“We maintain that the Comelec has not fallen victim to any attacks that will amount to a security breach,” he stressed.
JCOC-AES chairperson Sen. Imee Marcos has earlier claimed that there has been a security breach on the part of Smartmatic after one of its contractual workers allegedly took out an official laptop and leaked its contents.
The information supposedly came out during an executive session of the JCOC-AES.
BALLOTS
Meanwhile, the Comelec said close to 90 percent of the 67.4 million official ballots to be used in the May 9 polls are already printed at the National Printing Office (NPO).
In a press conference, Elections Commissioner George Garcia said there are already 58,838,453 printed out of the 67,442,616 official ballots to be used on Election Day.
“The 58 million plus represent 87.2 percent of the total number of ballots that we are supposed to print,” said Garcia.
Of the official ballots printed, the poll official said 42,036,604 pieces, or 62 percent, have already exited the process.
“These good ballots are those that passed through the highest quality control, the highest standard of control and verification,” he said.
On the other hand, Garcia said 105,853 ballots need to be reprinted after being found defective.
The Comelec on Thursday held a random ballot checking at the NPO in Quezon City for the different political parties and other stakeholders.
Garcia said they didn’t encounter any glitches during the random ballot checking at the NPO.
“No glitch whatsoever occurred/transpired in today’s testing. Hope our stakeholders have the same observation,” said Garcia.
But according to Garcia, the random checking is only an initial step in their bid to ensure transparency in the electoral process.
“A lot of things still need to be done to gain the trust of our people on the institution and the electoral process. We have to walk the talk, so to speak,” he said.
VOTER INFORMATION SHEETS
In a related development, the Comelec said politicians are prohibited from distributing the voter information sheets (VIS) to be distributed before Election Day.
According to Garcia, only Comelec personnel can distribute the VIS nationwide.
“Do not be surprised if somebody knocks on your doors and provide you with VIS. We’ve already printed the VIS for the entire country and are now ready for distribution,” he said.
“Definitely, candidates are not allowed to distribute the VIS. We don’t want this to be politicized,” added Garcia.
Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said the Comelec will come out with the necessary information to determine the authenticity of the VIS being distributed.
Under Republic Act No. 7904, the Comelec must provide all registered voters, through registered mail, with a voter information sheet at least 30 days before an election.
The VIS shall include the voter’s name, address, the precinct and the place where he is registered, and simplified instructions as to the casting of votes.