Smartmatic snags P1B new deals

The Venezuelan multinational Smartmatic has snagged P1.04 billion new deals with the Commission on Elections (Comelec), which supplied electronic voting equipment and software in the last four national elections, while deflecting persistent allegations linking it to poll fraud.

Last December, it was awarded a P637,443,308 contract to overhaul and repair 97,345 vote-counting machines or VCMs, and to supply the Comelec with 109,745 SD (secure digital) main cards, write once-read many cards and 250,000 cleaning sheets.