Election watchdog Kontra Daya gave the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and Smartmatic a failing mark in handling this year's national and local elections.
Kontra Daya Convenor Danilo Arao said their assessment in the recent general elections was “not really good.”
“Kung tatanungin mo ko anong grado ang iibibigay ko sa Comelec sa paghandle ng election, nagtuturo po ako sa UP (University of the Philippines) at sa PUP (Polytechnic University of the Philippines)—kung may gradong mas mababa sa singko, ayun po ang gradong ibibigay natin sa Comelec pati na sa Smartmatic (If you ask me what grade I will give to the Comelec in handling the election, I teach at UP and PUP—if there is a grade that is lower than five, that's what I will give to the Comelec as well as to Smartmatic),” he said in a forum on Sunday, May 15.
Arao described the May 9 polls as the “worst” automated election in the country.
“Ito na po yung pinakamalala sa kasaysayan ng automated elections sa Pilipinas (This is the worst in the history of automated elections in the Philippines), I'm sorry to say,” he said.
The group received reports of vote buying, red-tagging, disinformation, as well as glitches in the vote counting machines (VCMs).
“Actually, batay sa report on the ground sa mismong araw ng halalan, malawakan po talaga yung dayaan sa porma ng vote buying, sa porma ng disinformation, lalo na yung red-tagging (based on the report on the ground during election day, the cheating—in the form of vote buying, disinformation, especially red-tagging, is really widespread),” he said.
“Iba pang usapin yung mga aberya na may kinalaman naman sa vote counting machine. Kahit mismong sa datos ng Comelec umaga palang 1,800 VCMs ang nagkaroon ng issue. To be fair, narepair naman ito ng mabilis (There were also issues related to the vote counting machines. Based on Comelec data, about 1,800 VCMs encountered issues just in the early hours of the election. To be fair, these were repaired quickly),” he added.