MIS - Assignment3: Automated Election in 2010

My Views and Opinions on Automated Election in 2010…

The 2010 election is fast approaching, as an IT student and a citizen of the Philippines,
I or should I say we should be aware of the present issue concerning about the
Automation of the 2010 Election in our country. We should be concern about it because in the
election it is our opportunity or chance to choose our leaders that will govern our nation.

An automated election was proposed by Senator Richard Gordon and officially amended by
Republic Act 9369 or the amended Automated Election System. As the technology evolves,
Comelec sees that there is a need of a change in our electoral process. And this change leads
to the amendment of automation of our election system. In this connection, the realization of
the quest of the Filipino people to have a reliable, clean, honest and fair election results to
the approval of Republic Act 9369 or the amended Automated Election System.

The Winning Bidders

Special Bids and Awards Committee (SBAC) called for bidding for the automation project with a Php 11.3 billion budget.
The two corporation the Smartmatic and Total Information Management Corp. win the bidding of the 2010
election among the seven which have been chosen before. The Smartmatic -Total Information Management Corp.
joint venture beat several other companies with a bid of only Php 7.21 billion to secure the contract. S
ome conflicts also came out among the two but then are resolved.

Smartmatic International Corp. (Smartmatic)
- Smartmatic is a multinational company that specializes in the design and end-to-end deployment of complex
purpose-specific technology solutions. With an unsurpassed technology base, continuous innovation, and quality in
processes and results, Smartmatic is organized around three business areas: Electronic voting systems, intelligent
and integrated security systems for large enterprises and governments, and advanced solutions for people registration
and authentication for a wide range of government applications.

Total Information Management Corp. (TIM)
-provides information technology solutions to corporations. It offers outsourcing services, such as
business process outsourcing, offshore data center operations, managed network services, telecommunication
services, and call center services; business continuity services; technology solutions, such as supplying recertified
and refurbished IBM mainframes and peripheral equipment; and engineering and maintenance services.
The company was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Makati City, the Philippines.

How reliable can the automated election system be?

Comelec claims that the AES (automated election system) cannot be hacked and that the source code will be
open for inspection. These are good for Comelec’s PR efforts, but they do not make automated elections safe
from fraud. In fact, they are smoke screens that cover the real areas where fraud can take place. I
n computing, the term is used in a wider sense to mean using software for enjoyment or self-education,
not necessarily involving unauthorized access.
Hacking is not the problem and, therefore, spending time and money to prevent hacking is not very useful.
If only outsiders would rob you in your home then having grilled windows, special locks, alarms, etc. will ensure your safety.
But if you live in the company of thieves, you can still be robbed. That is what the police refer to as an “inside job.”
The greatest danger of fraud in the 2010 computerized elections will come from insiders in Comelec and computer
vendors, not from outsiders.
In a recent meeting of the Management Association of the Philippines Election Automation subcommittee,
with former Customs and BIR Commissioner Guillermo Parayno, has been asked whether his agencies had ever been hacked.
His answer was no, any intrusions were always by insiders.

Source code inspection

The other point Comelec likes to stress is that the source code of the OMR counting machines will be available for
inspection by computer experts. Looking at the source code is practically useless.
OMR machines are used in schools for scoring tests and in survey companies for tabulating survey results. Members
of the administrative staff in schools and survey companies do not change the source code.
They provide a scoring or tabulating table to modify how the OMR machine scores a test or tabulates a survey.
By changing this table, fraud is easily committed. In order to cheat on the OMR counting machines, all that is
needed is to download a new counting table that changes for whom a shaded circle is counted. In areas where
the candidates that want to cheat are weak, the table can be modified so that votes will be switched. This does
not have to be done on all machines.If done on even just 10 percent of the OMR machines, a
tight race may be reversed in favor of those who are cheating.
How would the counting tables be switched? Since the OMR machines are connected to the Internet,
it is possible for an outside party, in connivance with Comelec or system vendor people, to enable an unseen
computer to load the fraudulent table.
At the end of counting, the original table can be reloaded so that any tests would indicate that the
machines are counting correctly and honestly.
It could also be possible for someone that seems to be authorized to quickly insert a USB memory
stick that would load the fraudulent table.

Go for Automated Election on 2010…

It is interesting that while it was said that the slow transmission and canvassing in the old manual system
created many opportunities for fraud, in the new automated system, very fast transmission and canvassing
in 2010 may lead to massive fraud, frustrating the true votes of our nation. Comparing to the old system
to the this new system is a way for creating a possibilities of a more comprehensive, fast, counting of
votes which is essential in the voting system. Although we could not deny the fact that there is a tendency
of cheating and other underground moves of some officials, compared to the old system this more efficient and fast.

Using the Automated Election we could save time, energy and even money mainly because in all aspect of the election
processes the government basically could lessen the expenses because the system is easy and convenient for the voters.

REFERENCES:
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20090306-192592/All-go-for-automated-elections-in-2010
http://www.jpsimbulan.com/2008/08/06/is-the-philippines-ready-for-an-automated-election-system/
http://www.nowpublic.com/world/2010-philippine-automated-election-jeopardy