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May 2010 automation "made a mockery of our right of suffrage"

from NAMFREL Election Monitor Vol.2, No.12

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Tanggulang Demokrasya (TanDem), a multisectoral coalition of civil society leaders, organizations and institutions, was launched on May 26 in a press conference.The group also rejected the further use of Smartmatic's PCOS machines in future Philippine elections. In a statement, the group said that the May 2010 elections ushered in a "mechanism for fraud," which "betrayed the electorate" and "made a mockery of (Filipinos') right of suffrage."

Among the guest speakers during the launch was Atty. Grace Riñoza-Plazo of Ang Kapatiran Party, who lost in the May 2010 senatorial race. She believes that the PCOS machines were compromised that even in her hometown of Nasugbu, Batangas, she got very little votes. Atty. Plazo also called attention to Comelec's election results website, which she claims showed erroneous results, but was then corrected after her party spoke about it in the media just after May 10, 2010.
Mr. Edmundo Casiño of the Philippine Computer Society made a presentation on the security features of the PCOS machines that were disabled in the run-up to the elections; how provisions of the automation law were violated by the Comelec in its implementation
of the automated system; and serious administrative lapses
committed by the Comelec in said implementation. Mr. Casiño also expressed his belief that the source code of the machines used already belongs to the Filipino people (and not to the foreign technology provider), since it has already been made to conform with the requirements of the Philippine electoral system. It should therefore be made available for review by Filipino organizations.
   
According to TanDem, their objectives are "to bring to people's attention serious electoral crimes; to demand accountability; and to seek an immediate rectification of the corrupted Automated Electoral System (AES) before any other automated elections are held." The group is calling for the non-use of Smartmatic's PCOS in the ARMM election scheduled for August.

Read TanDem's statement here: http://bit.ly/lsOIh4
Below is TanDem's video presentation on Smartmatic's PCOS:
 
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