Manual audit of clustered precincts matches machine counts – report

Commission on Elections (Comelec) at the Palacio del Gobernador Bldg., Gen. Luna St. cor. Andres Soriano Jr. Ave, Intramuros, Manila (Photo: Ramon FVelasquez/Wikipedia)

MANILA – The Random Manual Audit (RMA) conducted in 687 out of the 715 randomly selected clustered precincts (CPs), or an average of the three for each of the 238 legislative districts, yielded a 99.9023 percent matched the audited machine and audit counts.

According to the 47-page report of the Random Manual Audit Committee, headed by Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner Luie Guia, the audit conducted was accurate after comparing the ballots from the output of the vote counting machines (VCMs).

“From the actual 687 precinct results that were collected, the data show that the machine and audit counts matched 99.

9023 percent of the time,” said the report, which was released on Tuesday.

It added, “Most variance is due to the difference in how a machine and a human appreciate partly-shaded voting ovals. Based on the specifications by the machine supplier and the Comelec, the threshold for considering a vote is a mark that covers at least 25 percent of the area of the voting oval.”

The RMAC explained that out of the 715 CPs, 28 were considered as non-responsive or those samples selected but could not be considered allot boxes could not be retrieved.

“In order not to unduly delay the verification process and considering that the samples are statistically sufficient as confirmed by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the RMAC pushed through with the analysis of the 687 valid samples,” the report added.

On the other hand, the RMAC suggested that parties in current election protest may use a standard supplied by the machine provider and used in the audit, to determine whether votes will be counted.

“However, for efficiency and speed the parties may agree, and with the strong recommendation of the Comelec, to use the ballot image and machine interpretation of the votes on each ballot. These data are all contained in the memory cards used in the VCMs,” the report said.

It added, “For future audits, RMAC recommends that precinct-level procedures be made more efficient. It offers for study the idea of bringing all the ballot boxes from sampled precincts to a centralized location for efficiency, economy and enhanced transparency.

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The committee also recommends embedding audit features in the design of future automated election systems.

The positions audited were for president, vice president, district representative in Congress, governor and mayor in the May 9 national and local polls.

Aside from Comelec, the RMAC is composed of the National Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) and PSA.