The failure of PCOS machines during tests yesterday drew flak from many different quarters as reported by the Inquirer (Voting machines fail. 76,000 memory cards to be replaced. and ‘We’re playing with fire here’). Of course this is understood but should not have been the focus of the news. I think the focus should have been on the exact nature of the problem and the exact method/s of corrective measures SMARTMATIC will perform. However, we are left with the information that it was supposed "human error" that brought about the failure, while a lowly compact flash card (a type of memory card) is identified as the culprit.
Flores blamed the glitches, which first surfaced in two precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines last month at the start of advance overseas voting in Hong Kong, on “human error.”
The very shallow description of the nature of the problem does not so much hold water, technically speaking. Worse, the supposedly "easy" solution is not clear. The question remains though as to how the mere replacement of the flash cards resolve the problem?
He said the problem was in the flash cards, equivalent to the SIM card in cell phones.
Although the company has no final numbers on defective compact flash cards, it is moving to replace the memory cards for all the 76,000 PCOS machines already sent to regional hubs for field distribution, according to Flores.
Present at the news conference were representatives from the Comelec Advisory Council (CAC) and its technical evaluation committee, and Makati City Rep. Teodoro Locsin Jr., one of the co-chairs of the Congressional Oversight Committee on the Automated Elections.
The wrong tallies stemmed from the memory cards, Flores said.
He noted that the cards contained wrong “instruction” regarding the local ballot face that caused the PCOS machines to give “contradictory” readings of the names and the votes for the local contests.
Officials said the PCOS machine read the races for the national posts correctly.
It is very obvious here that the Inquirer does not have the capability to inquire on technical matters. But they are not only technically deficient, they are also deficient in logic as they miss altogether one critical point when they let without challenge the description of the situation by the NP. Why would the Inquirer use second hand information coming from the NP when the Inqiurer themselves are first hand witnesses of the failures that happened?
In mock elections on Monday conducted by the Comelec and Smartmatic-TIM in six towns in Occidental Mindoro, votes for presidential candidates Manny Villar and Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III were counted for Gilberto Teodoro Jr. of the administration party, according to the Nacionalista Party (NP).
Nevertheless, except for a small exposure for Remulla, I do not think there is anyone among the Presidential candidates that are favored by the news.
The related news on an election lawyer's comment also does not have anyone benefiting, as I see it (Postpone elections, Arroyo lawyer urges). I say likewise for the news on the need for satellite links for the PCOS machines (10K machines need satellite links).
However, another related news (Calls for manual count mount but Comelec says no) gave prominent space for the Inquirer's now obvious favorite person to cover, Sen. Aquino:
But Liberal Party standard-bearer Sen. Benigno Aquino III wanted a firm assurance from the Comelec that it “will do everything within the bounds of the law” to ensure that automated elections would push through or else prepare for a manual count “as mandated by law.”
In a statement, Aquino said the misreading of the PCOS machines belied the poll agency’s claim that it is “ready.”
“The Comelec denied our proposed parallel manual count for national and selected local positions as it could open the electoral process to fraud and protest that could delay the proclamation of winners. They called it regressive and unnecessary,” he added.
This news report also conferred an IT expert status to a person who has not shown nor has been known to be an expert on anything:
Senatorial candidate Jose “Joey” de Venecia III, an information technology expert, said that while he favored full poll automation, the Comelec was not ready for it. He proposed that full automation be postponed when the country would be “fully” prepared for it.
In reading all these news, it is obvious to me that there is no one really looking after the benefit of the people. While our most popular newspaper gave credence to baseless if not outright stupid assertions on manual count, etc., no one really, not even the political parties involved have devised all the necessary monitors and checks in the process of our automated elections. Rather than help, all everyone did is the easier task of complaining or even try to disrupt the preparations. Indeed it is easier to destroy than build. And these are the elite in our society, talking and doing trash, while ignoring what is important. I say indolence still holds our country back right from the topmost sectors of our society, which example the masses follow.
The press release meanwhile by Ernesto Maceda (Estrada is Arroyo’s last card vs Aquino–Maceda) confuses as to who really it benefits. Although everyone knows that whoever PGMA supports will have a harder time getting elected, Maceda proudly announces that his ward or master (whichever) Estrada is the last hope for Arroyo, or to that effect. Rather than come out positive for Estrada, I think it solidifies support for Aquino and I call this positive for the latter. I may be wrong but it seems to me now there is some agreement between the Aquino and Estrada camps to make sure Noynoy wins.
The news about increases in the Meralco bills (Power revolt brewing over Meralco bills) does not actually explain why there are such increases but focuses on the experiences by various bloggers. No references though about candidates were made on the news.
While we see most of the news today as neutral and we cannot make a firm call on the others, we can say definitely that the last news we focus our attention on today, the feature on a candidate, is purely positive for Nicanor Perlas (NICANOR P. PERLAS: New governance goes beyond gov’t). With this, I call the whole issue today as to have benefited the environmentalist candidate.
So the score now goes:
Aquino: 12
Estrada: 2
Villanueva: 1
Teodoro: 1
Madrigal: 1
Perlas: 1
So far, the only candidates that have not benefited at all from the Inquirer front pages are Delos Reyes, Villar and Gordon.
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