Comelec: Eleksyon 2025 results to be transmitted after voting hours

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Thursday said election results will be transmitted after the end of voting hours for the May 12 polls.

Comelec Chairperson George Erwin Garcia said this is to address fears of hacking and allegations of early transmission of poll results.

“Ang mga makina ay hindi makakapag-transmit ng results sa PPCRV, NAMFREL, majority at minority parties, sa central server ng Comelec, media server, at canvassing centers nang walang 7 p.m.,” said Garcia.

(The machines cannot transmit the results to the PPCRV, NAMFREL, majority and minority parties, the Comelec central server, media server, and canvassing centers before 7 p.m.)

“Naka-program ito, at lahat ng gagamiting servers at consolidation systems ay hindi rin tatanggap ng [election results] nang walang 7 p.m.,” he said.

(It is programmed this way, and all the servers and consolidation systems used will not accept the election results before 7 p.m.)

The poll body contracted South Korean firm Miru Systems for the P17.99 billion automated election system (AES) for the upcoming polls, which included the leasing of 110,000 new automated counting machines (ACMs).

Garcia reiterated the ACMs have new features for the elections, including a three-day battery life.

He also said the ACMs will print the election returns (ERs) before transmitting the results to election servers, including those allocated for election watchdogs, majority and minority parties, and canvassing boards.

“Hinding-hindi magkakaroon ng hacking sapagkat para ma-hack mo, dapat wala pang available na kopya…Ngayon po available na agad ang kopya bago pa man mag transmit ng results,” said Garcia.

(There will never be hacking because, in order to hack, there must be no available copy yet. Now, a copy is immediately available even before the results are transmitted.)

“Ine-emphasize natin na ang lahat ng imahe ng balota na nahulog nang lahat ng watchers…pag natapos na  ang pag-transmit, pagbilang, pag-print ng ERs, pamimigay nito sa lahat, ipapakita natin isa-isa sa lahat ng watchers, papayagan namin ang watchers na picturan, video-han ang lahat ng ballot images…Bago po ang lahat ng features na yan,” he added.

(We emphasize that all images of the ballots are visible to all watchers... once the transmission, counting, and printing of ERs are completed and copies are distributed to everyone, we will show them one by one to all watchers, allowing them to take pictures and videos of all the ballot images. These features are new.)

The election period will start on January 12. —VBL, GMA Integrated News