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Random Manual Audit in Manila
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from
NAMFREL Election Monitor Vol.3, No.2 |
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by Mark Lester D. Toribio, Chairperson,
NAMFREL-Manila |
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| Monitoring the conduct of
the Random Manual Audit was one of the important projects conducted by
Namfrel in the May elections, to help assess the accuracy of the count
of the PCOS machines. The RMA is one of the safeguards under RA 9369
(Election Automation Law), the main purpose of which is to validate the
accuracy of the machine count and ensure the integrity and acceptability
of the automated election results. Manual auditing of the ballots
requires great effort and speed on the part of the BEIs and the random
manual audit team (RMAT) since the process of conducting the manual
audit starts only after the votes have been transmitted (as per
instruction), with the counting of the ballots done manually. |
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Random
manual audit monitoring observations in Manila
The process started late. The Random Manual Audit
proceeding in 6 (six) districts of Manila started late
because of the delay in transmission, particularly to the
KBP server. Given such dilemma the audit process was delayed
and the working hours were prolonged.
In District 4 (Esteban Abada High School) the transmission
did not occur because the PCOS Machines were not
functioning. The RMAT skipped the process and directly
proceeded to conduct the RMA. According to the chairman of
the RMAT, this was done upon the advice of the election
officer. NAMFREL volunteers did not have a chance to verify
this advice because based on the guidelines they could not
intervene or express any opinion.
Lack of interest of Stakeholders. Only
NAMFREL-Manila Volunteers were present as observers during
the entire auditing process. No political watchers or other
Citizen’s Arm volunteers were present. According to the
guidelines: The Random Manual Audit shall be conducted in
the presence of Poll Watchers, Political Parties, Citizen's
Arm Groups, Media and the Public. |
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Lack of information for candidates and supporters which
resulted to conflict and tension. In District 4, before
the Random Manual Audit was conducted in Esteban Abada High
School, tension occurred between political party watchers
and the BEI. The watchers wanted to include councilors in
the manual counting. In the presence of the PNP and the
school principal, the RMAT team showed the guidelines to the
watchers, which state that “In no way shall the results of
the RMA delay the proclamation of the winning candidates
based on the results reached by the AES.” The poll watchers
left the school after being shown the guidelines, leaving
only two NAMFREL volunteers to observe the process.
Lack of supervision from COMELEC. During the entire
proceedings of the random manual audit, no Comelec officials
or representatives visited the polling place. Comelec did
not even provide food or snacks for the RMAT; Namfrel-Manila
voluntarily bought food and drinks for the members of the
RMAT particularly in Districts 1, 3, 4 and 5.
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Tedious process; lack of
substitute member. Random Manual Audit Teams did not
follow their functions based on their designation. They
shifted tasks; they did not have substitute members. For
this reason, RMAT were tempted to fast track the process for
convenience, but because NAMFREL observers were present
during the audit process they could not do so.
Process hastened, results of the tally adjusted. In
Manuel Araullo High School, the aggregate variance indicated
in the RMA Report/Minutes was only 4. However,
NAMFREL-Manila volunteers reported that the RMA BEI adjusted
the manual tally results for each candidate whenever there
is a difference with the corresponding AES results, to make
them equal. Based on our calculations, the real aggregate
variance easily exceeded 10. According to the RMAT, the
variance could have been caused by their error in tallying
manually. Thus, they saw it justifiable to adjust the
results of the manual tally and make them
conform to the AES tally. |
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The Random Manual Audit was conceptualized as one of the
safeguards of the automated election, to assure the public
that the results of the automated election is truly
reflective of the people’s will as expressed in their
ballots during election day. It serves as an internal check
and barometer on how accurately the PCOS machines counted
our votes. This is indeed very important in assuring the
public, most especially the candidates who lost in the count
by only a minimal number of votes, that the election was
fair, honest and credible. We commend the Comelec for
instituting this measure, as well as the efforts of the
teachers who served as members of the RMAT who worked
tirelessly overnight after the elections.
However, while the Comelec and the Random Manual Audit teams
certify that the outcome of the RMA validates the results of
the 2013 elections with 99.9747% reliability, and NSO claims
that the variance was minimal to affect election results,
several issues and problems concerning procedures however
need to be addressed in order for RMA to better serve its
purpose especially for the coming 2016 National elections.
The claims of the Commission may be valid based on official
figures submitted from the field; however, the circumstances
and issues on how these figures were generated may be an
entirely different story.
NAMFREL-Manila would like to recognize the efforts of the
chapters' different NAMFREL RMA monitoring teams in the
following areas: |
| District
1- Tondo
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Brgy 70
253AB, 254AB
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Manuel L.
Quezon E.S. |
| District
2- Tondo
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Brgy 202A
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809A,810AB, 811A
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Felipe
Calderon E.S. |
| District
3- Santa Cruz
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Brgy 329
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1521A,
1522A, 1523A
1524A, 1525A |
Antonio
Regidor E.S.
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| District
4- Sampaloc |
Brgy 484
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2272AB,
2273AC
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Esteban
Abada H.S. |
| District
5- Paco |
Brgy 664A |
2673AB
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Manuel
Araullo H.S. |
| District
6- Paco |
Brgy 830
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3361ABCD
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Carlos
Garcia H.S. |
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District 1:
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Chairman:
Dex Toribio,
Members: Cris Caballero, Alex Tolentino |
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District 2:
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Chairman:
Helen Parraggua
Members: Lav Gutierrez, Jon Toribio |
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District 3:
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Chairman:
Lec Toribio
Members: Ren Romero, Laila Cuadernal, Charlie Gaw,
Jason Alacapa, Serge Aclan, Caloy Melad, Joel Dayrit,
Carlo Galarrita |
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District 4:
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Chairman:
Albert Oasan
Member: Ann Mauricio, May Estrada, Noel Bernardo,
Reiner Tamayo |
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District 5:
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Chairman:
Chino Adasa
Member: Marvin Tio, Ralph Tan, Ryan Cancio |
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District 6:
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Chairman:
Ronald Bunag
Member: Kath Felizardo, Mae Aruta, Denise Gallardo |
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