The Philippines held elections on Monday seen as crucial for President Benigno Aquino’s bold reform agenda, as deadly violence and graft-tainted candidates underlined the nation’s deep-rooted problems. Glitches marred the start of voting when at least 100 machines malfunctioned in various polling precincts throughout the country including Metro Manila, the Philippines chief election officer reported. But lawyer Sixto Brilliantes, the chairman of the Commission on Elections (Comelec), insisted the glitches had no major adverse impact on the political exercise as to declare a “failure of elections.” Brilliantes explained they projected that a maximum of 200 voting equipment, known as the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines, would malfunction or would not start when polling precincts opened their doors to about 52 million qualified Filipinos at 7am on Monday.
Brilliantes pointed out that their number was small when compared to the 78,000 such machines assigned to 40,000 polling precincts nationwide for the Monday automated election, the second since 2010.
Cesar Flores, the president of Smartmatic company that provided the machines, agreed with Brilliantes, saying: “Of course, it is uncomfortable if that happens. Every will feel their precinct is collapsing.”
“But that is the nature,” Flores also said, “of an automated election in any country.”
Full Article: Oman Tribune – the edge of knowledge.