Too soon to call 2010 elections successful

It is too soon to declare the 2010 elections a success. People want a successful election so badly, that it is easy to get carried away by flood of incoming election returns. Many want to believe that a clean and honest election has finally happened, at last. But the vice-presidential election is yet to be [...]

2010 election surprise: Binay leading Roxas

ROBERTO VERZOLA, Halalang Marangal (HALAL) http://www.gmanews.tv/story/190631/2010-election-surprise-binay-leading-roxas The most recent Comelec report (May 10, 2010, 11:30 p.m., 57% of all election returns canvassed) as of this writing suggests that the 2010 presidential election is an Aquino landslide. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III seems to be getting roughly three votes for every two votes for Joseph “Erap” Estrada [...]

Expect a flood of demands for recount from losing candidates

The PCOS fiasco a few days before the May 10 elections has shattered the credibility not only of election automation, but of the entire electoral process itself. The entire process hinges on an accurate count by the PCOS machine. In fact, COMELEC specifications require at least 99.995% accuracy, or at most one error for every [...]

Three things the COMELEC can do to assuage our concerns

This is the latest letter of HALAL to the COMELEC. The HALAL suggestions are important and urgent. Let us all add our voices to these suggestions. Halalang Marangal April 20, 2010 The En Banc COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS Palacio del Gobernador Intramuros, Manila Hon. Chairman JOSE A. R. MELO Hon. Commissioner RENE V. SARMIENTO Hon. Commissioner [...]

The high-speed printing that misaligned UV marks can misalign the ballot ovals too

The ultraviolet (UV) scanner of the PCOS was disabled because the high-speed printing resulted in the UV mark on the ballot being “misaligned by one to two millimeters”, according to COMELEC Commissioner Larrazabal. As a result, the machine’s UV scanner often missed the mark and many valid ballots being being rejected. Here’s the big question: [...]

Front side of the official ballot for the May 10 elections in the Philippines

Here’s a copy of the front side of the official ballot that will be used for the May 10, 2010 national elections in the Philippines, for everyone’s scrutiny. By the way, the Comelec is being accused of bias in the ballot design. Disqualified candidate Vetellano Acosta (#1 on the list of presidential candidates) is still [...]

Dateline: “A Briefer on Poll Automation – Why it is Expected to Fail”

The title above is actually the title of an excellent paper on the risk of failure of the Philippine May 10 automated elections prepared by the “Citizens’ Alliance Against Electoral Fraud and Failure of Elections” and posted on the website of Dateline Philippines. The full text is on this Dateline site. [I've been told that [...]

HALAL analysis of the May 10 elections: text version

HALAL analysis: automated election has 25% chance of success [As of March 31, we have updated our assessment and now put the chance of success at 28%. See this post on the ballot-printing sub-project for details.] by Halalang Marangal Last March 8, Smartmatic-TIM full-page ads came out in some national dailies, claiming “a vote of [...]

Updated HALAL analysis: automated election has 25% chance of success

I have updated our presentation regarding the chances of success of the May 10 automated elections. I have added details regarding the ballot printing problem, and added to the list of things the Comelec must do to improve the chances of success. The updated presentation may be downloaded here: halal-analysis-of-aes-risk-of-failure-as-of-March 23.

Back to school

I haven’t updated this blog since April for several reasons. I thought I could do some blogging while doing my research on automated elections and electronic voting machines last April and May at the University of Oxford Internet Institute (OII). But I only managed one short piece. I needed all the time I could spare [...]