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29
Jan
Not too late for polls to go manual — Joey III
The Commission on Elections’ recent admission that up to 30 percent of all precincts would resort to manual counting is the biggest indication yet that all is not well with the poll body’s computerization plan.
So says IT businessman Joey de Venecia III, who has been batting for the automated polls to be limited to Metro Manila.
“That old adage, better safe than sorry, most especially applies to the May elections,” said de Venecia, a leading opposition senatorial candidate.
If the Comelec says that it could resort to manual count in up to 30 percent of all precincts as a fall back position, this means that there is a growing belief within the poll body that they may not be able to fully handle the elections without glitches, according to de Venecia.
As far back as last year, the ZTE-national broadband network whistleblower had been calling for automated polls in the National Capital Region only.
“Should anything go wrong anywhere in Metro Manila, the Comelec can take immediate remedial action,” he said. This cannot be done in the far-flung areas where cheating and other irregularities is rampant, he added.
As an IT businessman of more than two decades, de Venecia says the “rush-rush” implementation of the computerization was “a formula for disaster.”
Setting up a nationwide network can take up to a full year, the son and namesake of former Speaker Jose de Venecia said.
The latest advisory from the Comelec said the full delivery of the 80,000-plus voting machines would not be completed until mid-February.
“This gives them less than three months to set up a network which would ordinarily take 12 months, at the very least,” de Venecia said.
He called on the Comelec to reconsider its plan of depending completely on a system which will be used for the first time and consider his proposal to limit computerization to Metro Manila.
“Too much is at stake in the May elections,” he said, “The Philippines cannot afford a failure of elections.”
