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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Here are the alleged irregularities in the 2025 polls, according to PPCRV

Here are the alleged irregularities in the 2025 polls, according to PPCRV

Published May 13, 2025 12:53 pm  |  Updated May 13, 2025 03:12 pm
The conduct of the 2025 mid-term elections was allegedly marred with so many technical difficulties and glitches that poll watchdog Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) called for a random manual audit (RMA) to ensure accuracy of the outcome.
There were high hopes that the auditing and the transmission of the results would be faster and smoother compared to the previous elections with the use of the new voting machines this year.
And while the voting process was generally hitch-free, and the transmission of results was faster, there were still questions and concerns about the conduct of polls, Commission on Elections (Comelec)-accredited PPCRV.
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Late access to data
For one, PPCRV was expecting to see the election returns (ERs) shortly after they were transmitted to Comelec.
Polls closed at 7 p.m. of Monday, May 12. Soon after that, about 34.38 percent or one-third of the total ERs were already transmitted to Comelec.
However, PPCRV, which was supposed to have immediate access to the data, lost its "eye
" on it and could not immediately see the results.
PPCRV spokesperson Ana de Villa-Singson says this hasn't happened since 2010.
Comelec started displaying the results shortly before 9 p.m.
But it was only at around 10:30 p.m. that PPCRV was able to show its parallel count of the results.
PPCRV said the delay was caused by "unexpected technical issues", and that the initial data it received at past 8:15 pm came in different file formats.

It also noticed discrepancies between its internal count and the publicly-reported figures by other transparency server-receiving parties.
"Out of an abundance of caution and our commitment to accuracy, we held off publishing the results while we verified the data," it added.
Discrepancy in numbers
An entire night has passed since ERs were transmitted to Comelec and its transparency servers. Yet on Tuesday morning, ERs that PPCRV had access to appeared different from what Comelec was showing to the public.
PPCRV, in a statement, said Comelec already showed to the public 98.75 percent of the country's ERs, although only 79.9 percent could be seen and accessed by the watchdog.
This was a "significant discrepancy", PPCRV said.
The verification of the results of the 20 percent of the election returns is crucial, especially for the national race, because it may move the ranking of the bottom two in the top 12 senatorial candidates.
Glitches, mismatch
And then, there were the technical glitches—including machines that refused to accept ballots—that President Marcos even experienced.
There were also reports of mismatch, or voters seeing different names on their receipts from who they actually voted for; as well as overvoting and undervoting. But Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia said voters might have just forgotten whose names they shaded.
Smudges on the ballots caused by inks on thumbprints also supposedly led to inaccurate voting results.
It said 49 percent of its verified election violations were errors of automated counting machines, particularly paper jams, mismatch of actual votes versus results in receipts, and overvoting due to smudging or other markings on the ballots.
Calls to action
Citing these incidents, PPCRV highlighted the importance of conducting RMA and unofficial parallel count (UPC).
RMA dispels potential issues with overvoting or unintentional voting, while UPC compares physical ERs with transmitted returns, according to PPCRV.
Kontra Daya, meanwhile, staged a protest on Tuesday against Comelec amid supposed "irregularities and problems faced by voters during the May 12 polls".
It also called on the poll body "to take accountability for their blunders of preventing fraud and disenfranchisement of votes".
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