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Election
watchdogs call for rejection of Smartmatic's PCOS machines
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from
NAMFREL Election Monitor Vol.2, No.9
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The Automated Election System (AES) Watch
strongly urged not to re-use the Smartmatic -TIM provided PCOS
technology in the forthcoming Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao
(ARMM) and in future elections because of the technology’s
non-compliance with legal requirements, lack of safeguards,
unresolved issues and technological difficulties it had brought in
and after the May 10, 2010 national and local elections. The
AESWatch, of which Namfrel is a member, is composed of 40
non-partisan and independent election monitoring
and civil society organizations and the academe.
In a statement released May 6, the AESWatch seeks that the
Commission on Elections (Comelec) and the Joint Congressional
Oversight Committee (JCOC) consider reverting to the manual system
in the upcoming ARMM elections as issues with the PCOS technology
are not yet resolved. It also reiterated its call for the disclosure
of election documents requested since last year with the election
management body and comply with the Supreme Court ordering the
release of these public documents. |
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Furthermore, the AES Watch appealed for
support from Filipino IT experts to be engaged and to participate in
the automation of the election process to ensure a more transparent
and accountable elections. A national Filipino IT (FIT) conference
will also be held in June with the end goal of arriving at new
election technologies and strategic models more suitable to
Philippine conditions. The IT community also advocates for their
participation in presenting technologies that can be used in
automating elections. It also requested the election body to review
its policy of outsourcing election technology to foreign companies.
Earlier, Namfrel cited in its January 2010 newsletter that the reuse
of the PCOS technology violates the principle of transparency and
competitiveness in government procurement as guaranteed by the
Oversight Committee review and the Procurement Law.
Read the AESWatch May 6 joint statement here:
http://scr.bi/lLcWwe
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