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BREAKING: Poll watchdog demands explanation from COMELEC for helter-skelter midterm polls

DUBAI: An independent poll watchdog, the National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL) formed to monitor election fraud, has issued a statement demanding that the Commission on Election (COMELEC) explain the widespread incidents of malfunctioning Vote Counting Machines (VCMs) and corrupted SD cards that marred the just concluded midterm exercise.

“We have all been witnesses to the many problems that attended the conduct of the midterm elections,” said NAMFREL. “While the count of the VCMs that broke down or malfunctioned, corrupted SD cards and the problematic Voter Registration and Verification Machines (VRVMs) in pilot areas continue to tick, we have yet to determine the full impact of those problems on the voters, especially in remote areas of the country.”

“Did those problems result to the disenfranchisement of voters? This we have yet to determine,” the poll watchdog said.

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It added that the transparency data outage on the night of election day “was worrisome for stakeholders, especially the candidates, causing them to wonder the possibility of data manipulation.”

NAMFREL has urged COMELEC to, among others, “reveal the location of the central server and its back up as well as who are managing its operations.

In the United Arab Emirates, second home to some one million overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), final tally had to be delayed for two days due to SD card issues, it was gathered from Consul General Paul Raymund Cortes, head of the Philippine mission in Dubai.

Staff Report

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