Election Returns Access Shows No Major Delay, Says Comelec
Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Garcia assured on Monday that there is no significant delay in the access to election returns by watchdog groups. He emphasized that all election returns sent to poll watchers and media are identical to those received by Comelec.
The Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), a key watchdog, reported around 8 p.m. that their servers had received about 34% of election returns but initially could not download the data for processing. They described this as a “serious concern” but later confirmed they were able to access the transmission.
“Kanina po kausap ko sila, pumapasok po sa primary server niyo po eh. At the same time, doon po sa monitoring namin, mas advanced pa po sila sa amin. Iyong isa ko pong nakita, naka 42 [election returns] na sila, kami 39 [pa lang]. Talagang meron pong ganun minsan, like in texting, in a matter of seconds, pag pinagsama-sama lahat, may nauuna at nahuhuli iyong iba. Pero minutes lang po, hindi po major,” Garcia told reporters.
(I talked to them, and the election returns were received by their primary server. And based on our monitoring, they even received 42 election returns at one point when we only received 39 so far. So that really happens, like if you are texting a lot of people at the same time, the time when they are able to receive the text varies. Others might receive it earlier but just by a few minutes, nothing like a major delay.)
Ensuring Accuracy in Election Returns Access
Garcia noted that any delays might be due to the watchdogs’ own servers. Meanwhile, Comelec’s servers have been receiving election returns since 7 p.m., right after voting hours closed.
“’Yung po sigurong kanilang server, baka po nagkaroon ng delay. Pero ‘yung server ng Comelec, kanina pa pong alas siyete tayo nakakatanggap ng [election returns reflecting the] results,” he added.
(Maybe the delay was due to their server. But as far as the Comelec server is concerned, we have been receiving results since 7 p.m. [when the voting hours closed].)
He also explained that although Comelec and watchdogs use different transparency servers, strong safeguards ensure the election returns they receive are identical.
“Ang pinaka-importante pa rin po ganito, parehas po ba ‘yung napapadala sa kanila at napapadala sa amin? May paraan ba to counter check kung parehas? Pwede po. Bakit? Si Namfrel mismo ay pinayagan ng Comelec in 60 areas, 60 sa buong Pilipinas, na i-capture ang QR code hindi ng ER kundi resibo [ng balota na ipinasok sa counting machines],” Garcia said.
(What is important is there is a way to easily verify if we are receiving the same results. Why? Because the Comelec allowed Namfrel in 60 areas to capture the QR code not of the election returns but of the receipt [of the votes counted in the machine.])
“Puwede nilang makita kung tumutugma ba yung bilang ng resibo sa bawat posisyon as against sa election returns,” he added.
(They can easily see if our data sets match in every position as against election returns.)
Completion of Transmission Faces Challenges Tonight
Late Monday, Garcia also said it is unlikely that election returns from all precincts will finish transmitting tonight, May 12, because voting is still ongoing in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
“Mukha po na hindi kami makakareach ng 100% sapagkat meron po kaming Datu Odin Sinsuat [in Maguindanao del Norte] na binigyan namin ang continuation ng kanilang eleksyon at ‘yung 11,000 na hindi pa nakaboto, kahit na ang botong involved ay maaaring hindi [na] maka-apekto sa results ng national [elections]. Kahit nga siguro sa local,” Garcia said.
(We are unlikely to hit 100% tonight because we still have Datu Odin Sinsuat [in Maguindanao del Norte] where 11,000 voters will still have to vote, even though the election results in this area won’t change the results of the national polls or even local elections.)
“Wala po tayong iiwan na mga kababayan natin. Dapat po makakaboto [muna] sila,” he added.
(We won’t leave anybody behind. We need to wait for all of our fellow Filipinos to be able to vote.)