THERE will be no more transparency servers in the 2025 midterm elections due to an enhanced vote transmission process, which Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George M. Garcia explained on Wednesday would send election results (ERs) simultaneously to telecom companies, canvassing boards, poll watchdogs, and media.
“The VCM (vote-counting machine) results will be sent to all [servers] simultaneously. Meaning, you will hear no transparency server,” said Mr. Garcia in Filipino.
This changes the old system of transmission of votes in which ERs from municipal, provincial, and national canvassing centers pass through different servers including central, transparency, backup, and media servers.
In an interview, Mr. Garcia said the new process eliminates the idea that ERs can be manipulated during server transmissions as alleged by some in the 2022 elections.
“We are learning from our experience and from the concerns of certain sectors of our society,” he said, pertaining to the group of petitioners led by former information and communications technology chief Eliseo M. Rio, Jr. who claimed that a “man-in-the-middle” server was used to manipulate results of the 2022 national elections.
“Again I can guarantee you, there was no man in the middle in the 2022 national elections,” the chairman added.
Asked if the new system reduces the chances of allegations of cheating the polls, Mr. Garcia said: “There will always be allegations of rigging especially from the losing party.”
Regarding the issue of whether voting technology provider Smartmatic, implicated in rigging allegations in the 2022 national elections, will be allowed to bid for the next automated elections, he said the Comelec is expected to decide on the petition within the week.
“There was a very extensive discussion early this morning in our executive session because we have to come up with a decision as soon as possible because we have to start the procurement process [of voting machines] soon,” he said in an interview.
The chairman also explained that the winning bidder for automated voting paraphernalia will also have to provide other collateral materials including the ballot and ballot boxes to be used, aside from the machines and software. — Jomel R. Paguian
