THE Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a plea from the Commission on Elections to reverse its decision compelling the poll agency to issue printed receipts from 92,000 vote counting machines that will be used during the May 9 elections.
Court spokesman Theodore Te said the justices denied the Comelec’s motion for reconsideration after Solicitor General Florin Hilbay argued the poll agency’s case against activating the voter verified paper audit trail feature on the machines, saying it could lead to a failed election.
The Court ruled last week in favor of a petition filed by former senator Richard Gordon to compel the Comelec to issue printed receipts in line with the Automated Election Law.
Te said 12 justices voted to dismiss the Comelec appeal.
Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio and Asssociate Justice Lucas Bersamin were on leave, while Associate Justice Diosdado Peralta had no vote.
Gordon, who filed the petition before the high court, said the ruling showed that the people’s votes are important.
“The Supreme Court did not fail the people. For the first time, voters can now breathe easy as they are assured their votes will be counted correctly. Thank you, Supreme Court, for upholding the Filipinos’ votes,” he said.
“I’m sure the Comelec will be able to comply with the requirements of the law now that the Supreme Court has denied with finality their motion for reconsideration. As we have presented, there is enough time for the preparations. I know they can do it,” Gordon added.
During oral arguments, the Comelec acknowledged that it is still possible to push through with the May 9 elections even if the ruling on printed receipts is upheld.
“It is still possible to print the receipts,” Commissioner Christian Robert Lim said, in response to a question from Associate Justice Marvic Leonen.
The Comelec was also allowed to conduct a demonstration of the vote counting machiness, with one that issued receipts and another that did not.
Leonen, who wrote the decision, said the justices had carefully read the law and agreed that the printed receipts are mandated under the automated elections system.
He said all the other operational problems were “managerial problems that are not supposed to be addressed to the Court but to the Comelec.”
Lim told the Court that the Comelec would have to move the elections to May 23 to take into account the reconfiguration of the source code or the secure digital cards of the vote counting machines.
Without changing the source code, however, the receipts would not carry security features such as the ballot ID and hash code, Lim said.
Leonen said the Court did not direct the Comelec to reconfigure the source code, but only to issue vote receipts.
He also said the time needed for adjustments would be cut if the source code does not need to be changed.
Leonen also said it was not within the power of the Comelec to postpone elections in the entire country, but only in selected areas.
Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista assured the justices the Comelec would do its best under the circumstances, but warned that there would be risks.
“My reservation is what kind of election are we going to have… if we are going to force issues,” Bautista said.
The Comelec chairman also told the Court that it is important that the source code is reconfigured for the purpose of issuing receipts as the current source code will not suffice.
In arguing for the Comelec, Hilbay raised the possibility of a failure of election.
“Every interpretation entails a cost. In this case this cost translates to a substantial and unanticipated burden on the preparations of the Comelec,” Hilbay said.
Among the costs involved in enabling voter receipt feature, Hilbay said, were: a voting period that will stretch to an average of 20 hours; a degraded voter experience that results in voters leaving polling places; an increased incidence of machine malfunction and failure; new opportunities for cheating; an added burden on teachers serving as board of election inspectors; heightened risk of an election failure; and decreased overall confidence in the Comelec’s ability to conduct credible, honest and orderly elections.
The chief state lawyer argued that the vote printing feature of the VCMs will have little impact on the credibility of the 2016 elections considering the last two automated elections turned out to be credible despite the non-issuance of the receipts.
He said there was no need for the VVPAT because the Comelec had put other measures into place, including random manual audits of the polling precincts.
Hilbay gave the Court three options: deny the motion for reconsideration and incur the costs; reconsider its decision and not incur the costs; or to declare that its decision was prospective in character.
Gordon, the author of the Automated Election Law, welcomed the Court’s decision, saying it was time it was properly implemented.
“Why cannot the Comelec do its job? If they cannot do it, the course is to resign or take other jobs,” Gordon said.
Election watchdog Kontra Daya also praised the Court for holding firm on its decision.
“It is our hope that Comelec will now undertake all necessary efforts to implement this provision of the law. We call on the public to be vigilant. The vote receipt is just one of the safeguards watchdogs groups have long advocated.,” Kontra Daya convenor Rick Bahague said.
It also called on the Comelec to conduct another round of mock elections, with the added feature of vote receipts and with the inclusion of transmission and canvassing in the tests.
Following the decision, Bautista said the VCMs could already issue receipts even without changing the source code, but these would not have any safeguards to ascertain they were authentic.
“In fact, receipts of voters in Quezon City can be interchanged with those in Cebu since the location of the precincts will not even be mentioned,” he said.
He also said changing the source code would take time—and the result would have to again be reviewed by their international certifier and other stakeholders.
“If we will be placing additional information in the receipts, like the precinct number and locations, we will need a new trusted build,” Bautista said, referring to the source code.
House leaders said the Comelec must prepare for the May 9 elections as scheduled following the Supreme Court’s decision.
House Majority Floor Leader and Mandaluyong Rep. Neptali Gonzales II said the Comelec must now refrain from making any pronouncements about not pushing through with the May 9 elections and instead comply with the Court’s decision.
The camp of presidential candidate Senator Grace Poe also welcomed the decision, calling it a “victory for… democracy.”
“This decision once again strengthens the transparency of our electoral system. We are now calling on Comelec to implement the… decision and to see to it that we conduct fair, timely and efficient elections,” said Poe’s spokesman, Valenzuela Mayor Rex Gatchalian.
In Cebu, vice presidential candidate Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. expressed apprehension over Bautista’s suggestion to postpone the May 9 elections.
In a press conference at the Cebu Country Club, Marcos said Congress can no longer pass a law to allow the postponement since it would be difficult to call for a special session.
He also said a postponement would be an opportunity to change the election results. With Sandy Araneta, Maricel V. Cruz and Junex Doronio
