The Senate will ask the Commission on Elections to explain its negotiated contract with Smartmatic over the refurbishment of Precinct Count Optical Scan or PCOS machines, Senator Aquilino Pimentel III said Thursday. He said the Senate Oversight committee on electoral reforms will summon Comelec officials during a Senate inquiry on the “repair contract” next month. He gave no dates for the hearing but said Comelec officials should explain its contract with Smartmatic. “They should explain to the public why they entered that negotiated contract with Smartmatic,” said Pimentel who heads the Senate electoral reforms committee.
Since the Comelec had already purchased the PCOS machines, Pimentel said, the poll body now owned them and not Smartmatic.
Smartmatic was the supplier of the PCOS machines that were used in the country’s first automated election system in 2010. The machines were used again in the 2013 elections.
Full Article: Voting machine deal questioned – Manila Standard Today.