Earlier today, the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) confirmed that a “data leak” has occurred in the Smartmatic system. However, it reassured the public that is not in any way related to the upcoming elections.
“They (Smartmatic) emphasized to us that the data leak does not have anything to do with the elections in 2022,” Comelec Chairman Saidamen Pangarungan said.
According to Pangarungan, the said security breach involves data concerning Smartmatic’s internal organization. The public has nothing to worry about as it is not election-related. In fact, the security of the ballots, as well as the configured SD (secure digital) card, was not compromised by the leakage. More importantly, the involved employee of the company has been fired already.
Alleged election-related issues are nothing new with Smartmatic. In the last May 2016 elections, Bongbong Marcos alleged that Smartmatic had tampered with the votes, making him lose against now fellow presidential candidate Leni Robredo. However, the Supreme Court, in its capacity to act as a Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), dismissed the case on February 21, 2021 for lack of evidence.
Moreover, according to former elections commissioner Rowena Guanzon, the vote-counting machines to be used in the 2022 elections will be fair and accurate.
“Every machine is going to be tested,” Guanzon said during a public forum organized by IBON International and Council for People’s Development and Governance.
Therefore, Smartmatic is again the provider of an automated elections system and vote-counting machines for the 2022 polls.
