THE COMMISSION on Elections (Comelec) has addressed issues in the automated voting system that were detected during the mock polls held last month.

The hitches were found in vote-counting machines and the consolidated canvassing system in relation to the source code.  

“As we have said earlier when we conducted our trusted build in Alabama (in December), if there is a need to do the trusted build because of some issues which involve source codes, then we need to do another trusted build,” Comelec Commissioner Marlon S. Casquejo said during a Facebook livestream on Thursday of the activity. 

The final trusted build is a process that converts source codes that are written in human-readable programming language into a file that computers can understand.

The thumb drives that have the source codes of parts of the automated election system were sent to the Philippine central bank and the Comelec’s project management office. 

REPORTED HACKING
On the recent report of an alleged data breach in the Comelec system, a poll watchdog suggested the establishment of an in-house response team whose primary role would be to conduct vulnerability scans in the system. 

The National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL), in a statement on Thursday, said the Comelec should also consult with information technology experts in probing the supposed hacking incident reported by the Manila Bulletin. 

“Moving forward, NAMFREL recommends to the COMELEC to set up an Incident Response Team (IRT), if it has not done so yet, whose primary responsibility includes developing a proactive incident response plan, conducting vulnerability assessment of the COMELEC’s technology infrastructure including the AES, resolving system vulnerabilities, implementing strong information security practices, and addressing information security incidents,” it said.

Comelec has already said there was no data breach, but the National Privacy Commission has directed the poll body to submit a copy of its internal probe and scheduled a meeting next week. 

COMMISSIONERS
Meanwhile, members of a pro-democracy coalition have called on President Rodrigo R. Duterte to allow the public to participate in the choice of election commissioners as three are retiring next month. 

The group PARTICIPATE said the president should make the appointment of Comelec officials more transparent to maintain the integrity of the polls. 

“These three vacancies to be left by the outgoing members of the Commission are crucial, especially with the ongoing election preparations and the challenges that confront and confound us as we are holding the elections under peculiar circumstances due to the current COVID-19 pandemic,” members of PARTICIPATE said in a statement released on Thursday. 

Set to retire in February are Comelec Chairperson Sheriff M. Abas, and Commissioners Ma. Rowena V. Guanzon and Antonio Kho, Jr.  

The 1987 Constitution provides that poll commissioners shall be appointed by the President with approval from the Commission on Appointments. Each will have a fixed term of seven years, without reappointment. In case of a vacancy, the new appointment will only cover the unexpired term of the predecessor. 

E-RALLY
In another development, an e-rally platform for national candidates in the May 9 elections was launched by the poll body Thursday. 

The Comelec e-Rally channel on Facebook will allow presidential, vice-presidential, senatorial and party-list groups to stream their campaigns for free within a time slot.

The Comelec will soon come up with guidelines on how the candidates can participate in the e-Rally channel. 

Livestreaming of e-rallies will start on Feb. 8, coinciding with the start of the official campaign period for national positions. 

“This platform can ensure that those candidates who have less in followers can still have more views and exposure, so to speak,” Comelec Spokesperson James B. Jimenez said in a statement.

The official campaign period for members of the House of Representatives and local government officials will start on March 25. 

All campaign activities will end May 7. — Jaspearl Emerald G. Tan 

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