A Thorough Study of Manual and Automated Elections in the Philippines

By Gil M. Camaymayan

Introduction
Election is an exercise of democracy wherein the people determine through their votes,
individuals who would represent them in the government. Its a process guaranteed in our
constitution and such right to vote are vested to each citizen as long as they possess the
qualifications established by law. Election could either make or break a country as can be
reflected in our history and through our past leadership either in the smallest unit of
government in the baranggay or to the highest position of the land. The constitutional right to
suffrage which in turn enables qualified voters to choose their representatives in government
should do so with a sense of responsibility and awareness for the common good of the public
rather than for the benefit of a single person. As most people say that taking part in an election
is equivalent to taking part in History for constituted officials as a result of an election would
determine what a future holds for a specific country.
Rules, regulations and laws relating to the election process is being observe, manage,
implemented, enforced and executed by the Commission Of Election or COMELEC. COMELEC is
a constitutional commission whose power and authority is established and defined under
Section 2 of Article IX-C of the 1987 Constitution. The past few elections have prompted a call
for a reform of the voting system to reduce the chaos that often ensues on Election Day, Last
May 2010 after tremendous preparation; the Philippines experienced its first Philippine
Automated Elections which was provided by the Philippine Republic Act 9369 known as the
Poll Automation Law. It gave a fresh glimpse of experience to the national and local
candidates and most of all the voters to see how automation polls gunned up with more
effective and efficient electoral processes from its casting of voters ballots until the canvassing
and proclamation of the winners. But before we dig through further with this newly introduced
concept of an automated election in the Philippines, we need to further investigate and
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understand how a manual election works in order to further appreciate or reject this new
concept.

Election Process
Manual Election Process

Nomination

Election
Campaign

Polling

Counting Votes

Election
Results

Figure 1.0

Nomination/Filing of Candidacy
COMELEC shall define periods when it would accept certificate of candidacy of candidates on
various electoral posts. Any person running his candidacy needs to file a sworn certificate of
candidacy in the Office of the Election Officer in cities and municipalities nationwide. The
format of the COCs may be obtained from the Election Officer. Candidate shall file the
certificate of candidacy personally or by his duly authorized representative. No certificate of
candidacy shall be filed or accepted by mail, telegram or facsimile.
COMELEC shall provide for a resolution and enforce applicable laws in determining qualified
candidates and disqualify or declare nuisance against unfit and improper candidates. COMELEC
shall announce the names of candidates and their parties contesting the election.
Election Campaign
COMELEC shall define its rules and regulations regarding election campaigns by setting dates
for its start and end on the basis of applicable laws. Qualified Candidates and their
representative can start their campaigning on the duly specified date. These activities would
include affixing of posters, talks, distribution of pamphlets, and campaigning from house to
house. Certain campaign restrictions may also be implemented to establish a fair and equal
election.
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COMELEC as a constitutional body that organize, regulate and administer the election process
shall have the power to define the following upon an election campaign:

Prohibited contributions

Prohibited Raising of Funds

Allowed/Lawful expenditures for Philippine campaign

Statement of Contributions and Expenses

Polling
On polling day, qualified registered voters would cast their votes on specified polling precincts
from which they are assigned. For each precinct a Board of Elections Inspectors (BEI) shall be
responsible for conducting the voting and counting of votes for a precinct at the polling station.
It shall compose of three people: a chairman, a poll clerk, and a member.
Before Polling begins the BEI should arrive with the polling materials at the polling place at least
one hour before the commencement of polling. The polling place should open promptly at 7:00
AM, and remain open continuously until 3:00 PM. Voters should then be allowed into the
polling place one by one, and should inform the Chairman of their name and address, who will
then look up their name in the Voters List. The voter is then required to sign next to their name
on the EDCVL. The Chairman will authenticate the ballot by signing the back, then fold the
ballot in such a manner that its face will be covered but the detachable coupon bearing the
serial number is visible, then direct the voter to an empty desk. The voter, upon receiving his
folded ballot, will go to an empty desk. Only one voter is allowed at a desk at one time and
immediately begins marking his ballot.
After filling up the ballot, the voter re-folds the ballot and returns it to the Chairman. The
Chairman confirms the serial number on the ballot is the same as that recorded for the voter,
then requires the voter to press their right thumb into the inkpad, and then put a thumbprint
on the detachable stub and on the corresponding space on the EDCVL. The Chairman will then
sign in the appropriate space on the EDCVL.

The third member of the BEI will then apply a drop of indelible stain ink at the base and
extending to the cuticle of the right index fingernail of the voter. The Chairman will then detach
the coupon and put it in the compartment for spoiled ballots, and return the ballot to the voter,
who will put the ballot in the compartment for valid ballots.
The polling place will remain open until three o'clock in the afternoon of Election Day. If at
three o'clock there are still voters waiting to vote, their names will be recorded by the poll clerk
and they will be allowed to vote. No one who arrives after 3:00 PM will be allowed to vote.
When all remaining voters have cast their ballots the polling place will close. The Chairman will
first record the quantity of unused ballots and their serial numbers, and will then, in the
presence of the members of the BEI and watchers, tear the unused ballots without removing
the stubs and detachable coupons. This would serve as a counter measure to prevent election
fraud using the unused ballots.
Counting Votes
The Counting of Votes serves as the most tedious process of all the steps. This is conducted
after the polling stating has closed and the last qualified voter has cast his vote. Counting of
votes will be conducted in public and without interruption. Appointed watchers for political
parties and candidates and accredited nonpartisan observers have the right to observe all
aspects of the counting process, including setting up for the count, the reading of ballots, and
the marking of votes on the tally board and polling returns. Watchers can read the votes in the
ballots but not touch any election document
A Reconciliation process is also done manually to ensure that the total number of ballots
received is the same as the number of votes cast and the unused ballots.
The conduct of counting of votes is done by the BEI unfolding the ballots and arranges them in
piles. The Chairman of the BEI shall take the ballots of the first pile one by one and read the
names of the candidates voted for and the offices for which they were voted as well as the
name of the party, organization or coalition voted for under the party-list system, in the order
in which they appear. As each level of election is read, the Chairman will make a determination
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if the vote is valid. As each vote is read out, it will be recorded on the election returns and the
tally board. After finishing the first pile of ballots the total for each candidate will be written on
the election returns and tally sheet after the last tally mark. The same procedure shall be
observed for the second and third pile until all the votes are counted.
Announcement of Election Results
After all the ballots have been read and counted the BEI will write in words and figures the total
votes obtained by each candidate by each party, organization or coalition participating under
the party-list system, in the designated space on the Election Returns and in the Tally Board.
The Chairman will then announce the number of votes received by each candidate and the
corresponding office.
At this point the Poll Clerk should take the Election Return to the Tally Board and invite the
watchers to confirm that the results recorded on the Tally Board are the same as those
recorded on the Election Return. The BEI members will then sign and thumbprint the forms,
and the watchers of the six principal political parties will also be asked to sign and thumb mark
the returns. The BEI will then give copies the Election Returns to the representative of the
dominant majority party, the dominant minority party, and of the COMELEC citizen's arm.
Manual Elections
Elections in the Philippines have long been branded as dirty and violent. Election law violations
have already become the norm during such occasion. Rampant vote buying, flying and ghost
voters, election frauds, violence, coercion, duress and intimidation are rampant and plaque
most parts of the country specially those in the province and far flank areas wherein civil unrest
usually does occur.
Typically such concerns and issues occur during the Election Polling and Counting of Votes.
These two steps in the election process are considered to be the most crucial part of the
election process and are mostly done manually by individuals assigned in the polling precincts.
In any process human intervention are always prone to human errors and concerns thus
resulting to a deviation to an improper or incorrect output or result. People with evil intention
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usually takes advantage of this to further their own personal and selfish interest without giving
regards to the process and specially to the sovereign will of the people. In the end it would be
the country and the people who would bear the burden of the mistakes and evil acts of the few.
Recent elections have prompted calls for a reform of the voting system, on 2010 Election the
COMELEC has implemented and IT automated election through the use of PCOS (Precinct Count
Optical System) Machines. This was provided by Republic Act 9369, to encourage transparency,
credibility, fairness, and accuracy of elections. The implementation was not perfect and has its
own issues and problems but in the end the public was satisfied with the results.
The implementation of an automated election is a ground breaking improvement compared to
our previous process. As any other process it has its own benefit and disadvantage which we
would be weigh-in in the next part.

Automated Elections
Introduction
As early as 1992, the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) has identified the modernization of
the electoral process as a goal of what was called Operation MODEX (MODEX for
Modernization and Excellence) but no significant and concrete plan and implementation were
established yet. In 1997, RA 8436 was passed into law, authorizing COMELEC to implement an
automated system in the May 1998 elections, and in subsequent national and local elections.
However due to lack of preparation, time and funding, it has led to the use of the automated
process only in several provinces.
In 2007, RA 9369, amending RA 8436, was passed to encourage transparency, credibility,
fairness, and accuracy of elections. An automated electoral process on a nationwide scale was
first enforced in the 2010 elections. During the course of the election Four hundred sixty-five
vote counting machines were reported as malfunctional, but 75,882 machines worked
smoothly. Compared to past elections where the winners were known after weeks or months,
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local winners were determined in a few hours, while half of the national winners were known
after a day. Regardless of the problems encountered before and after the election, most people
are satisfied with the election process and the voting results. The international community has
also noticed and commended the Philippines for its successful implementation of an automated
election.
Improved Election Process
Automated Election Process

PCOS Machine

Nomination

Election
Campaign

Polling

Counting Votes

Election
Results

Figure 2.0

The automation on the election process only deals with the process of counting of votes and
the declaration of election results. In view with this, it should not be considered as a fully
automated election since the automation wasnt from end to end, meaning from the beginning
or start of the process (Polling) until the end (Announcement of Results). This should only be
considered as a partial automation of the election process from which only two out of the 5
process was automated and the paper ballot has not yet been eliminated.
Through the implementation of the PCOS machines which reads an electronically watermarked
ballot to identify its validity, the process of vote counting would be done automatically by the
machine by making a tally if the shaded oval that represents a vote against an elective official.
The PCOS has an internal memory that stores election results and audit logs. Through this the
result of the election can be determined just hours in a local election and a few days in the
national election compared a manual election wherein results are determined by several
weeks.

The biggest impact in my view on the implementation of this automated process is the effect it
would have on the Election related violence during the whole election process, since the
removal of manual intervention of the last two processes in election is now done automatically
performed, thus giving less opportunity and reduction on the possibility of an election crime
commission.
Below are data from the PNP in relation to incidents of poll related violence recorded from the
past 5 elections.
Election Related Violence
Election Year

Number Of Incidents

Percentage

2001

269

0.00%

2004

249

7.43%

2007

229

14.87%

2010

176

34.57%

2013

81

69.89%
Table 1.0

Election Related Violence Incidents

300
250
2001

200

2004
150

2007

100

2010
2013

50
0
2001

2004

2007

2010

2013

Chart 1.0

Basing from the table and charts above a drastic decrease on Election related violence since the
implementation of the automated election process since 2010, there was a 34.57% decrease
compared to 2001 and it was twice as low as compared to 2007. The lowest number of
decrease was in 2013 but we had to consider the type of election conducted back then
compared to 2010 which was a national election.
Aside from the benefit of getting an election result faster and a reduction of election related
violence, the implementation of a so called automated election also has its own disadvantages
but what we need to keep in mind and what we need to consider is to weigh whether this
disadvantages outweigh the benefits from this newly improved process.
Concerns and Lessons
Legality
The transition from manual to automated elections is a long process. Its constitutionality and
validity are still being questioned for there were some legal provisions criticized as inconsistent
with automated elections or too ambiguous but most stakeholders agree that there is a solid
legal foundation upon which to conduct automated elections.
This is something to be expected for an individual through its nature in general always tries to
reject change. People in general are afraid of change for it is a deviation from what they are
accustomed to, but in order for us to survive we need to adopt and embrace change for it is the
only way that we could evolve and improve. We should treat it as a necessity rather than an
option for it enables us to move forward and improve ourselves not only as individuals but as a
country as a whole. Keep in mind necessity is the mother of all inventions.
Accountability
In-house capability is crucial for ensuring accountability of the exercise. The COMELEC faced an
enormous challenge to remain in control of the relationship with the vendor, Smartmatic. This
was due in part to the COMELEC staff not yet building the in-house capacity to manage the

vendor. The COMELEC should create its own body of experts in-house and not rely on the
vendor to ensure accountability in every step of the process. This would also remove the
concept of indispensability on the part of the vendor thus diminishing the possibility of abuse
and demands as such.
The accountability of the whole automation process could have been enhanced significantly,
had the COMELEC properly implemented post-audit mechanisms. Implementation of a
sufficient post-audit mechanism would allow for a credible check on official election results.
This would also take away concerns of the PCOS machine generating an incorrect tally of votes.
IT groups and election observation groups did not coordinate well enough to take advantage of
each others comparative strengths, knowledge and networks. Better coordination and
cooperation among civil society actors could have helped pair IT expertise with election
monitoring experience and methodologies to more effective election observation efforts. The
accountability of an election does not only rest as a responsibility of the government but by all
citizenry. This would ensure a fair, peaceful and free election.
Security and Secrecy
Ensuring the security of electoral processes was a significant challenge during the transition to
automated elections. While a range of security features were initially planned, several of these
features were not implemented or did not function as planned. Several election observation
groups and IT experts alleged that the range of security vulnerabilities exposed the system to
possible manipulation, fraud and failure. In most cases, failure to implement planned security
features was attributed to a lack of sufficient time. This is something that needs to be
addressed as soon as possible for system vulnerability especially in regards to security could
either make or break a system. The automated election was instituted to solve problems not to
create new ones.
Secrecy of the ballot, with respect to the PCOS machines, was not raised as a concern during
the 2010 elections. Some critics argued voters should have been able to confirm how the
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machine recorded their votes by having the machine briefly flash on its screen the voters
choices as recorded, but others contended it could have compromised secrecy. This should not
be an issue at all as long as there is an assurance that what was reflected on the ballot should
be reflected on the system.
Transparency
While the COMELEC appeared to make a genuine attempt to be transparent during some parts
of the electoral process, this was not always sufficient to meet international best practice and
to gain the trust and confidence of key stakeholders. In some cases, transparency was sacrificed
for expediency. In other cases, critics allege that transparency was restricted because of
sensitivity to criticism during what was a very challenging transition to automated elections
nationwide. The issue of the source code always does arise when the transparency issue is
raised for experts in the field of IT are skeptic on how the machine counts the vote. Whether it
does it correctly as how it was reflected n the paper ballot or does it do other processing that
could affect the counting due to a glitch in the code.
Sustainability
Cost considerations are a major challenge for ensuring sustainability of automated elections.
Despite extensive consideration of the full costs of moving toward automation, some
challenges did emerge. With the budget allotted, the COMELEC could not lease enough
machines to maintain even a fraction of the number of precincts in previous elections. This led
to the need to cluster precincts, which was cited as a major cause of the long lines on Election
Day. Estimation and allocation of appropriate budget should be emphasize during the general
appropriation in order to further improve and sustain this newly improved process.
Several people interviewed emphasized how much more complex and challenging the
automated elections were to conduct compared to manual elections. They noted that
electronic technologies should not be seen as a way to address capacity shortcomings in
managing elections. The 2010 experience showed the challenges of implementing electronic
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technologies without having enough leadership and staff with IT expertise and experience, as
well as a high degree of project management capacity. This should have been addressed by the
government by educating the voters on the new process of election. We should always
remember that Ignorance is bliss and misinformation is a result of miscommunication.
Trust
The COMELEC faced a significant challenge in building trust in the election processes. Following
the elections, however, overall trust and satisfaction with the elections increased significantly.
Many attributed this boost in trust as a result of the speediness of the results and the absence
of reported widespread Election Day failures. The fact that more than 90 percent of precinct
results were reported on election night was viewed as a significant achievement, and the
presidential election results reflected the exit polls almost exactly. These factors helped bolster
voter trust and mitigated the potential for post-election violence.
However, the lack of transparency of certain aspects of the process reduced trust among
election observation groups and IT experts, as well as some parties and candidates.
Several interviewees noted the increased trust in 2010 was partially due to the novelty and
pride associated with the Philippines conducting the first nationwide automated elections and
the wide margin of victory in the presidential race, which mitigated potential complaints. They
cautioned that this trust may not be sustained unless significant efforts are made to address
problems and security vulnerabilities in the succeeding elections.
Conclusion
There is no such thing as a perfect system or process. There would always be issues, problems
or concerns but what is important is that the benefit and advantage received should always be
greater than the disadvantage suffered. The main purpose of automating a process is to make
the things easier, lighter, reliable and cheaper in the long run but the result would then be
otherwise then there would be no point making such change.

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In the implementation of the automated election in the Philippines the benefit reaped indeed
has outweighed the concerns and issues encountered. As to any process what it needs are
responsible and competent people to have It sustained and maintained, thus ensuring a more
reliable, peaceful and free election. It is the first step that the government needs in order to
gain the trust and confidence of the people and to believe again on the system that their will
are preserved and heard, through the protection of their vote and ensuring that their votes are
accounted for in every election. For every vote does count and every citizen matters and that
election as a sacred process should be respected and properly observed.

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