MANILA – “In many precincts, election returns showed that the number of ballots cast is higher than the numbers of voters who actually voted,” Computer Professionals Union (CPU) expressed alarm on the discrepancies, saying this should not be the case.

Bulatlat checked the said discrepancies from the website of the Commission on Elections. For each region, Bulatlat randomly selected clustered precincts, and found out that most of them have high turnout of ballots over those who voted; some of the ballots cast even exceed the number of registered voters in the cluster.

Progressive partylist Bayan Muna – Panay also raised serious concerns over the integrity of the canvassing of votes, after finding out that the same anomaly is documented in the clustered precincts in barangays Cadoldolan, San Joaquin; and Magancina, Sta. Barbara, Iloilo province.

“This unexplained discrepancy casts serious doubt on the accuracy and reliability of the Automated Canvassing Machine (ACM) used in the elections, raising the specter of either grave machine error or outright electoral fraud,” said Bayan Muna – Panay in a statement.

Clustered precinct ID 30400020 recorded only 322 registered voters, with 290 actually voting, yet 333 valid ballots were counted. Similarly, in Barangay Magancina, Sta. Barbara (Clustered Precinct ID 30430074), only 223 voters are recorded as having voted out of 262 registered voters, yet the total votes cast reached 248.

As the election day closes, election watchdog Kontra Daya reported that 49 percent of the reports they received are errors in the automated counting machine (ACM), 12 percent in illegal campaigning, and 8 percent in voters’ disenfranchisement. They received a total of 5,490 reports.

As of 10:30 a.m. today, May 13, the number of ballots cast has changed from yesterday’s transmission. The number of ballots cast is now equal to the number of voters who actually voted.

Bulatlat compared the election returns from the same clustered precincts, and noticed the changes.

On the same day, progressive candidates have also called for manual counting along with the ongoing automated election. This is due to the reports of uncounted votes and the reported change in software version of the ACM.

Read: Manual counting urged amid ACM anomalies

The election watchdogs also flagged the use of an updated software version on the ACM. Comelec’s Final AES Source Code Report indicates 3.4.0 as the software version to be used for the conduct of elections. However, Kontra Daya said that the ACMs in the final testing and sealing of machines use software version 3.5.0.

Comelec released a statement, saying that the two software versions are the same. “The 3.4 version in the Local Source Code Review Report is the same version that underwent the independent third-party audit after it passed, and it has been renamed to version 3.5,” Comelec said.

Kontra Daya, together with computer experts under CPU and progressives under Makabayan, are not convinced with the statement of Comelec. Kontra Daya said that “3.4.0 is not equal to 3.5.0.”

CPU said that the Comelec has undermined the electoral process and democracy with the AES and called for the repeal of the Automated Elections System (AES) law. The public manual counting of ballots at the precinct level before electronic transmission, CPU added, will “eliminate unnecessary layers of complexity in the voting process and ensure each and every vote is actually counted.”

Bulatlat is still receiving reports from followers that the turnout of ballots is significantly higher than the number of those who voted and the registered voters.