FIT4E: The only transparent solution

WHO understands our Automated Election System (AES) Law or Republic Act (RA) 9369? Not the Venezuelans of Smartmatic! Their interest is just to gain profit in implementing their defective solution. Surprisingly, in the 2010 and 2013 national and local elections, non-compliance of Smartmatic with RA 9369 (e.g., implementation of Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail or VVPAT, digital signatures, source code review, contingency plan, etc.) was ignored by Comelec by Melo and Brillantes. They should have defended us, Filipinos, from domination of Smartmatic by strictly carrying out provisions of the law.

As early as 2009, AES Watch had forewarned Comelec officials about the risks of Smartmatic’s solution using Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines. They didn’t listen and we had the first election catastrophe in 2010. Because of this first ill-fated AES experience, AES Watch launched the Filipino Information Technology for Elections (FIT4E) in a conference exactly four years ago, June 2011. In the tradition of the past three successful three events of the National Search for Product Excellence in IT by Department of Science and Technology (DOST), AES Watch highlighted in the conference the 4th IT Search: National Search for Technology Excellence in Automated Election System with the primary objective of implementing Filipino-made AES that would really fit our national and local elections. History, however, would tell us that Comelec decided on the option-to-purchase of the defective PCOS machines in 2012 and FIT4E did not materialize in the 2013 elections.