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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Nightmare scenario: Rodriguez warns of 2025 poll failure if Comelec doesn't address Miru's issues 

Nightmare scenario: Rodriguez warns of 2025 poll failure if Comelec doesn't address Miru's issues 

Published Mar 12, 2024 12:31 pm

At A Glance

  • Cagayan de Oro City 2nd district Rep. Rufus Rodriguez has warned of a possible failure of elections next year in the event that the Commission on Elections (Comelec) doesn't resolve the issues involving poll contractor Miru. 

FB_IMG_1710246266506.jpgCagayan de Oro City 2nd district Rep. Rufus Rodriguez (Facebook)

Cagayan de Oro City 2nd district Rep. Rufus Rodriguez has warned of a possible failure of elections next year in the event that the Commission on Elections (Comelec) doesn't resolve the issues involving poll contractor Miru.

"The 2025 election should be assured by the Comelec and the contractor [Miru] to be flawless and bring about the results of the people's will. But we're reading in accounts and papers the problems of Miru," the veteran solon said Tuesday, March 12 during a hearing of the House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms.

"The bedrock of our democracy is periodic elections; I'm concerned there may be a possibility of failure of election next year. We should ask from Miru an assurance that what happened in the DRC and Iraq are not true," he added.

Rodriguez was referring to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which had previously held elections using Miru's automated systems.

The performance of Miru in those polls, as well as in Iraq, was hounded by many issues, said Rodriguez. "We don't want that to happen to our country."

Comelec had earlier awarded the South Korean firm a P17.9-billion contract to count votes for next year's midterm elections.

That Miru once again failed to conduct a demonstration of its counting system during Tuesday's committee hearing certainly didn't assuage Rodriguez's worries.

Rodriguez was displeased to learn from Comelec Commissioner Marlon Casquejo that the poll body did not seek more information from other reputable groups that had reported Miru's failures during elections held in the DRC and Iraq.

While Miru had submitted to the Comelec certifications of a supposedly "satisfactory" performance in these two countries, Rodriguez pointed to reports saying otherwise coming from independent third-party sources, such as the Carter Center, the National Episcopal Conference of Congo and the Church of Christ in Congo in the DRC, as well as the Alliance of Networks and National Organizations for Monitoring Elections in Iraq.

These organizations had found out that 45 percent of polling stations in the DRC had experienced difficulties with Miru's electronic voting machines.

Meanwhile, 70 percent of voting stations in Iraq did not work, such that the Middle Eastern country had to revert to manual elections.

Related Tags

Rufus Rodriguez COMELEC miru
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