“A poll watchdog group has filed graft and corruption charges with the Ombudsman against former officials of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) led by former Chairman Jose Melo and officers of Smartmatic and Total Information Management Corp. (TIM) for “imperiling” the 2010 and 2013 elections with the use of “highly suspect” and “terribly faulty” precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines,” The Inquirer reports from Manila.
“In a 41-page complaint, the Automated Election System Watch (AES Watch) accused the respondents of ‘involvement and conspiracy with one another in the negotiations for, the drafting of, and the implementation of the unconstitutional and illegal PCOS automated electoral system for the 10 May 2010 and 13 May 2013 national and local elections,'” the report said.
“The group blamed past and present Comelec officials for entering into “irregular, graft-ridden contracts” with Smartmatic-TIM worth P15 billion.”
Source:
1. Newsinfo.inquirer.net/424145/raps-filed-vs-ex-poll-execs-smartmatic
1. Why did the Automated Electoral System Observatory (AES Watch) accuse COMELEC and Smartmatic officials of jeopardizing the 2010 elections?
2. Why, when the Smartmatic-Dominion electoral system failed during the 2010 elections, did COMELEC not open a new bidding process for other companies?
3. Why if the complaints are based on irregularities in compliance with the Electoral Modernization Law, the congress does not issue a resolution based on the facts reviewed in the 2010 election?
4. Why did Comelec not assume responsibility for the distribution of defective Smartmatic equipment in the 2010 elections that ended up in the grilling of Smartmatic in the Philippine congress?
5. Could the 2010 Philippine elections have been a test for running future elections in the United States?
6. This case pre-dates by more than a decade the federal grand jury indictment of Smartmatic executives for alleged corrupt practices in the Philippines over the 2010 elections. In hindsight, what can we learn from the Philippine investigations and court cases?
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