BY:DONALD SEVILLA

LESSONS WE NEVER LEARN

Ever since we started automating our elections, it is not without glitches, creating doubts in our people’s minds.

Unlike in other countries using the same  technologically-advanced platforms where machines seem to run smoothly and without incident, ours is a stark contrast.

But ain’t these machines supposed to run perfectly like our other reliable computers? 

Yet, the glitches we always experience time and again, reflect a system far from being reliable, creating  more questions that require  indepth answers.

In certain cases as reported, voter receipts showed the names of candidates not voted upon. Early on during the OFW absentee voting, we heard of such complaints. 

Locally on election day,  the transparency servers of electoral watchdogs such as the PPCRV and the media center stopped receiving updated transmissions as they no longer synchronized with the COMELEC’s.

Cases of overvoting where the tally of the votes cast exceeded the number of registered voters in a precinct or a locality are serious matters that need forthright answers.

Yet as discovered and acknowledged, there happened a double counting of votes to the tune of five (5) million. What does this imply?

Many candidates late in the night who won, woke up in the morning to find they lost after votes were corrected.

While the automation of our polls was done purposely to prevent human intervention, we cannot help but ask, in this case who was responsible for the corrections?  

Did the machines automatically correct by themselves or were there IT people involved to do manual override of the programs or reboot the system?

We do not wish to cast doubt on the COMELEC’s integrity but without satisfactory answers to valid questions, the public cannot help but speculate..

To the ordinary citizen Joe, these incidents appear to indicate a pattern, a “dagdag bawas” modus operandi were some got more votes and others lost when the dust settled.

In this day of a better-informed citizenry through social media, it is highly improbable that straight voting in the local level could happen. Supposedly gone were the dark ages in our poll history where people voted for candidates as a block rendering the other party devoid of winners.

It could have been possible in a two party system only scenario but not anymore. Things like these only add more fuel to the fire and create serious doubts.

The “glitches” we observed have led to a loud clamor to return to a manual counting of votes. We spent substantial sums of money to improve our polls but we are far from efficient.

Although the results do come in quick, there is still much to be desired.  At the end of the day, whether elections would revert to manual or remain computerized, a big question remains. Can we trust wholeheartedly the people who run it?

Well, hello Garci! Can you come to the rescue? What say you?