EXCLUSIVE: How 'digital lines' lead to electronic 'dagdag-bawas' in PCOS machines

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is now looking at either leasing entirely new machines or repairing around 81,000 old precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines. This, after the Supreme
Court nullified the PCOS repair deal between the poll body and Smartmatic-TIM.

But while the Comelec still has to decide on which course of action to take, there remains an issue that puts in question the reliability of the old voting machines -- the problem of digital lines.
 

This problem appeared in several electronic images of ballots and its origin remains  unknown. What is known, though, is that it results in electronic “dagdag-bawas.”

Angel "Lito" Averia, a member of the Comelec Advisory Council, warns that digital lines had altered the results of the 2013 elections in some areas. "The counting is affected, hence, the total result has been affected," he said.

What is a digital line?
 

In 2013, a study was conducted by the Technical Evaluation Committee chaired by Engr. Denis Villorente of the Department of Science and Technology-Advanced Science and Technology Institute (DOST-ASTI) on the 11 precincts turned over to them by the Random Manual Audit Committee (RMAC). 

RMAC was created by the Comelec to conduct manual counting of votes in one precinct per congressional district. The results were later compared with the numbers yielded by the PCOS machines. 

However, out of the 234 precincts randomly audited, 11 or 4.7 percent of the machines produced different results from the automated counting. 

Former Biliran Representative Glen Chong, Convenor of the 60-30-10 Movement, said the prevalence of digital lines at the precinct level based is "quite alarming."  He warned that the total figure of affected ballots in the 2013 elections could reach up to 6,278,554 ballots.

Rep. Chong said this dispels the argument that the problem is not widespread, or that such discrepancies are isolated.

Tale of 10 compact flash cards

"The variance could not be explained. So, this was turned over to us and this was what we subjected to check," Villorente explained in the hearing of Senate Committee on Electoral Reforms on December 10, 2013.

In order to determine the cause of the variance, the TEC secured the compact flash card from 10 of 11 precincts. Ballot images were printed and their analysis revealed that "extraneous lines" surfaced on several electronic images of ballots. 

"It was discovered that in some of the ballots, there was actually a line on the image," Villorente said.

The "extraneous line" only appeared in electronic ballot images and did not surface in the  physical ballots, hence, the name, "digital line." The electronic ballot images are stored in compact flash (CF) cards and can be viewed using laptop or personal computers. 

The digital line, according to the TEC report, runs through the length of ballot images. There are also some ballot images where the line crosses the ovals  shaded for voting.

To determine the source of the line on the ballot images, the TEC retrieved and inspected the actual PCOS used for the 11 precincts. According to Villorente, an inspection revealed that all of the 11 machines generated lines, but only seven affected the actual count.

Below are the TEC's findings based on their technical report to the Comelec:

-Line that ran over shading ovals without votes was read as votes; 

-Line that ran over shading areas with votes was read as votes for shaded oval;

-Line that ran over areas outside the shading ovals gave no effects to votes;

-Line that ran over shading ovals without votes was not read as votes.

But how did the digital lines affect the counting of votes? Based on observation of the TEC, the digital lines caused the following: 
 

- votes for candidates even if there were no votes for the candidate;

- loss of votes for candidates who received votes, which were not counted because the line caused an overvote.

Villorente reiterated this observation during the hearing of the Senate Committee on Electoral Reforms. 

"If there were valid votes and the mark, the line that passed through them, [there is] no effect. But if it passed through an unshaded oval, it could result to an overvote...or it could add vote to that candidate," he said.

The TEC examination also revealed that the "lines were caused by what appears to be smudges of ink in the Mylar." The mylar is an internal part of PCOS machine. 

'Electronic Dagdag-Bawas'

Rep. Chong warned that digital lines have resulted in “electronic dagdag-bawas” because votes were either added to or subtracted from, certain candidates.

"Whenever the digital line falls on the ovals of candidates and its thickness meets the threshold of the oval shade, the PCOS counts them as votes, even if not voted for by the voter, hence, it results in dagdag (additional vote). Whenever it wrongly added more votes to positions with a maximum number of choices,  it results in over vote and nullification of the otherwise valid vote, resulting in bawas (reduction of vote)," Chong explained.

Averia of the Comelec Advisory Council warned that while 11 of the 234 precincts randomly audited represents only 4.7 percent,  if considered against 78,000 PCOS used in 2013, that would mean a possible number of 3,666 voting machines.  

The TEC urged the Comelec to "identify precincts that may likewise have experienced same issue...and subject these precincts to audit. 

Comelec verification report

It took a year before the Comelec acted on the recommendation of the TEC.

On December 12 to 17, 2014, the poll body studied the effects of digital lines on the results of the 2013 elections.

In its report the following month,  the Comelec said it studied 383 sample CF cards representing the same number of PCOS machines. Ballot images in the PCOS machines were decrypted and examined.

Below is the result of the verification conducted by the Comelec: 

The Comelec found that out of the 200,403 ballots scanned by the PCOS machines, 31,337 ballots or 15.64 percent had digital lines while 169,066 or 84.36 percent had none.

However, the Comelec did not mention how many of the PCOS machines they checked had generated digital lines.

The Comelec said of the ballots with digital lines, 1,102 or 0.55 percent affected the votes for national positions, and 561 ballots or 0.28 percent for the local positions, leading the poll body to say that "in general, the result of the election did not change.”

The poll body further belittled the effect of digital lines by concluding that these"did not affect the results of the elections for the senatorial and party-list positions.”

However, Rep. Chong did not share the Comelec's view. “When this 15.64 percent established digital line incidence is extrapolated over the 40,144,207 ballots officially cast as of October 30, 2013, the total figure of affected ballots in the 2013 elections could reach up to a maximum of 6,278,554 ballots," he warned.

Several election watchdog also criticized the conduct of the poll body's verification procedure.

In a letter dated December 15, 2014 to former Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes, representatives from election watchdogs and good governance advocates complained they were not given enough time to join the Comelec's check of the PCOS machines.

They said they were informed merely a day before it started, and the notification did not even come from the Comelec but from the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee on the Automated Elections Systems (JCOC-AES).

"Surprisingly, it is only in the midst of the holiday season (December 12-23, 2014), with all the rush and buzz that the examination is suddenly scheduled. Compounding the problem is the marathon schedule of the examination which includes Saturdays and Sundays," the letter stated.

Among those who signed the letter were leaders of the 60-30-10 Movement, AES Watch, Transparent Elections.Org.Ph, Pagbabago, Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), Center for People Empowerment in Governance (CenPEG), Philippine Constitution Association, Whistleblowers' Association, and Transparency International.

Effect of digital lines in Lapu-Lapu City
 

A case involving the presence of digital lines is now pending before the Comelec en banc. The case was filed by Efrain Pelaez, who lost in the mayoralty race in Lapu Lapu City, Cebu, against the incumbent mayor Paz Radaza. 

The Comelec First Division has already dismissed the electoral case after Pelaez, based on a recount, failed to obtain enough votes to win. However, Pelaez appealed the ruling before the Comelec en banc.

Included in the protest is clustered precinct 193 in Barangay Talima, where out of 732 registered voters, 607 actually voted.

Based on the result of the manual recount, out of the more than 18 thousand votes cast for 30 national and local positions, digital lines have affected 3,801 votes which represent 26.1 percent of the total votes.

The result was either additional or subtracted votes for certain candidates especially those running for a congress and the city council.

Another electoral protest in Lapu Lapu City involves clustered precinct 67 in Barangay Caubian , where 607 out of 732 registered voters voted. 

Of the total votes cast by the voters for 30 positions, the digital lines have affected 940 votes representing 5.36% of the total votes. Among the positions affected by the digital lines are the votes cast for the those running for congress, mayor, vice mayor, and two city council seats.

Effect of digital lines in Oas, Albay
 

In the hearing of JCOC-AES on February 5, 2015, the Comelec was asked to explain the results of the study they made on ther effect of digital lines in the 2013 elections.

Brillantes, already retired from his position, said 383 CF Cards from 383 clustered precincts were checked for the presence of digital lines.

He said in a clustered precinct in Oas, Albay, the poll body's examination revealed that out of 220 ballot images, 219 had digital lines.

Out of 219 ballots containing digital lines, 111 altered the result of the local elections, meaning votes were either added to or subtracted from the votes of certain candidates.

"I actually instructed the ERSD (Election Records and Statistics Department) who's taking care of this to look at other precincts and decrypt other precincts in the same municipality," Brillantes explained.

He added that a check on nine other CF cards from Oas and the effect of digital lines were inconsistent.

"There are very few lines in the others, there were several lines in the others, others did not affect. So there are all inconsistencies," he explained.

Cause remains a mystery
 

Two years after the 2013 Elections and 16 months after the problem of digital line was discovered by the TEC, its cause remains a mystery.

In a hearing of JCOC-AES in February, Senator Aquilino Pimentel III asked the Comelec if it was able to pinpoint the source of digital lines and whether it should be included in the contract for the repair of PCOS machines.

Brillantes, who heads the Committee on Digital Lines said they have not found an answer yet.

"The cause as I have said, could be Mylar, paper or ink. If it is ink and paper, it does not have anything to do with the machine itself. If it is the Mylar, then that is part of the machine," Brillantes explained.

Refurbishment not a solution 
 

Despite not knowing what causes the digital lines, Brillantes said that they have laid down plans on how to address the problem.

"As part of the repair, replace all the Mylars just to ensure that it will have no problem. But if the problem is on the ink or in the paper, then we have to review and make sure that the paper that we're going to be supplied for 2016 will not be the same as the paper that was supplied in 2013, if it is the paper that is defective. Or, if it is the ink, then we'll just have to have more quality control on the ink itself that's going to be used," Brillantes said.

Speaking for Smartmatic-TIM, Cesar Flores explained that the PCOS machines will be tested for the presence of digital lines, and if there are machines affected, the Mylar will be replaced.

"If there is presence of digital lines, the machines will be opened. And if the Mylar is damaged, it will be changed," Flores said.

Flores, trying to point out that there is nothing wrong with their machines, said  that digital lines were not encountered at the time the PCOS machines left the warehouse before 2013 elections.

He said all PCOS machines go to a testing and sealing process and that “there was no reported incidents of mismatch on the count."

But Sen. Pimentel pointed out that the testing and sealing only involves the first 10 ballots.

On the other hand, the Technical Evaluation Committee (TEC) recommended the replacement of all the Mylar films. "The PCOS should undergo preventive maintenance and inspection, particularly, of the Mylar film before deployment, and replace all the Mylar films," the TEC stated in its report dated December 10, 2013.

The committee added that the PCOS machine should have a voter verification feature to allow the voter to check if the machine properly recorded his votes.

Accidental president, senator, mayor
 

The deadline for the Comelec to submit its report before the JCOC-AES on the cause of digital lines lapsed on December 18, 2014. 

But Sen. Pimentel, chairman of the committee, gave the Comelec more time to study the problem with the help of more "technical people."

However, he pointed out that digital lines have created an impact on the accuracy of the election results.  

“We have to find out because it's causing a distortion in the count...that means we purchased inaccurate machines which should have failed in the acceptance kasi ang terms of ano natin, terms of reference is 99.995 percent accuracy. With the digital lines, sira ang accuracy na iyon" he said.

It was Brillantes himself who emphasized the importance of determining the cause of the digital lines because of the risk it may pose to the elections next year, admitting that the problems it caused "can happen again" and may this time cause the country to have " "an accidental president, senator, mayor."  -- JJ/JST, GMA News