Automated Election
I. Introduction
The Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) or Optical Mark Reader (OMR) technology system adopted by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) under the present political conditions and capability of the nation’s election manager, the Comelec, will make the whole electoral process bereft of credibility, transparency, or voter participation. With no electronic technology being invented that is safe from human intervention such as hacking and other types of computer attacks, the system will most likely lead to wholesale electronic cheating. Unbeknownst to the public and media, it will trigger a scramble for control of the key to the hardware and software technology among the moneyed and powerful. The May 2010 synchronized national and local elections where full automation or full electronic voting will be used for the first time is a major political event that should not be measured or prepared for solely on their installation of technology. It should be seen rather as one political exercise that remains dominated by the elite under the Arroyo government and where electronic technology may be manipulated to allow the oligarchs to remain in power. Such possibility has become stronger with the entrenchment of powerful fraud machineries, with the Comelec yet to solve its credibility problem and the overarching concern of election fraud is yet to be decisively addressed. The new technology system will be in the hands of these powers but the winning bidder which will most likely be a multinational company also shares this power. Under these conditions, the technology preferred by the Comelec will all the more reinforce the manipulative character of the traditional electoral process. The overall electoral struggle that seeks to bring progressive, non-traditional minds with a strong voice in Congress and in other elective positions has always included the campaign to make the Comelec independent and to have an open, transparent, and credible elections. The
The Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) or Optical Mark Reader (OMR) technology system adopted by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) under the present political conditions and capability of the nation’s election manager, the Comelec, will make the whole electoral process bereft of credibility, transparency, or voter participation. With no electronic technology being invented that is safe from human intervention such as hacking and other types of computer attacks, the system will most likely lead to wholesale electronic cheating. Unbeknownst to the public and media, it will trigger a scramble for control of the key to the hardware and software technology among the moneyed and powerful. The May 2010 synchronized national and local elections where full automation or full electronic voting will be used for the first time is a major political event that should not be measured or prepared for solely on their installation of technology. It should be seen rather as one political exercise that remains dominated by the elite under the Arroyo government and where electronic technology may be manipulated to allow the oligarchs to remain in power. Such possibility has become stronger with the entrenchment of powerful fraud machineries, with the Comelec yet to solve its credibility problem and the overarching concern of election fraud is yet to be decisively addressed. The new technology system will be in the hands of these powers but the winning bidder which will most likely be a multinational company also shares this power. Under these conditions, the technology preferred by the Comelec will all the more reinforce the manipulative character of the traditional electoral process. The overall electoral struggle that seeks to bring progressive, non-traditional minds with a strong voice in Congress and in other elective positions has always included the campaign to make the Comelec independent and to have an open, transparent, and credible elections. The