A GROUP has asked the Supreme Court to order an investigation of Smartmatic–TIM Corp. over its alleged tampering with the results of the national elections on May 9 this year.
The group led by lawyer Eduardo Bringas asked the high court to compel the Commission on Elections to prosecute the Smartmatic personnel “who tampered with the AES [automated election results] and those who conspired with them.”
The group asked the tribunal to make sure the Comelec conducted “an independent and thorough investigation of the two reported incidents [in which Smartmatic officials allegedly illegally gained access to the AES system during the canvassing of votes).”
The group made its petition even as a spokesman of the political group United Nationalist Alliance said the Comelec’s dismissive attitude on the poll irregularities showed its lack of interest despite the mounting calls for an investigation.
UNA’s Mon Ilagan said his group supports the call of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting urging the Comelec to look into the irregularities in connection with the May 9 national elections.
“Comelec’s dismissive attitude only means that it does not give any serious attention on the reported claims of election fraud,’’ Ilagan said.
The petitioners asked that Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista and the other commissioners who had already made their conclusions on the case to inhibit themselves from the investigation that they were seeking.
They also asked the high court to order an explanation for the supposed discrepancy in the results of the vice presidential race, citing the sudden rise in the figures for Camarines Rep. and Vice President-elect Leni Robredo.
Bringas, a petitioner in the pork barrel scams, also urged the high court to compel the Comelec to allow their group and the public to have access to the source codes and hash codes of the vote counting machines.