Comelec to replace 686 corrupted SD cards

FILE: ALL SET. The Commission on Elections is all set for the May 13 elections, its spokesperson, Director James Jimenez (left), says during the Broadcasters’ Forum held at Roland’s Farm to Table Restaurant along Visayas Ave., Quezon City on Wednesday (April 24, 2019). Jimenez also explained the issue of disenfranchised overseas absentee voters in the Middle East. With him is National Press Club of the Philippines (NPC) president, Rolly “Lakay” Gonzalo. (PNA photo by Ben Briones)

Three days before the 2019 midterm elections, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said more than 600 secure digital (SD) cards have been found corrupted.

Comelec Spokesman James Jimenez said they discovered at least 686 corrupted SD cards as of 6 p.m. on Friday, May 10. Comelec has prepared 85,769 main SD cards and another 85,769 back-up SD cards for the elections to be held on Monday, May 13.

The SD card is where the encrypted image of the ballots fed inside the vote counting machines (VCMs) will be stored.

Jimenez, however, assured the public that this issue is already being addressed by the poll body.

“When an SD card is reported as corrupted, we respond by preparing replacement cards. The replacement cards are then swapped with the corrupted cards,” he said in a press briefing.

“We do not issue new SD cards unless we receive a corrupted card in return,” he added.

The Comelec will utilize 85,000 VCMs for the conduct of the May 2019 elections. More than 60 million registered voters are expected to troop to different polling precincts on Monday to cast their vote.

Jimenez also announced in a tweet on Friday that the poll body’s precinct finder, a feature on the Comelec’s website where voters can find their respective polling precincts, is officially up.