Partylist group Akbayan has sounded the alarm again on cheating under the automated system. Here's an excerpt from the gmanews.tv report:

NGOs still unconvinced of ‘fraud-free’ automated polls
ANDREO CALONZO, GMANews.TV
10/28/2009 | 10:29 PM

Akbayan party-list group and other non-government organizations on Wednesday raised concern on the possibility of new forms of cheating that may occur during the 2010 automated elections.

Lawyer Ibarra Gutierrez III of the University of the Philippines said the lack in transparency on the part of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and Smartmatic-Total Information Management (TIM) consortium might give abusive politicians an opportunity to commit electoral fraud or even cause failure of elections in 2010.

Gutierrez said the non-disclosure of the source code used in the automated counting machines by Smartmatic-TIM, the consortium which bagged the P7.2 billion poll automation contract, may allow “built-in" cheating mechanisms in the coming polls.

“This is the biggest automation project in the world. The non-disclosure of the source code really raises concern on the integrity on the program to be used," he said in a forum in Quezon City.

Let's be realistic here and just acknowledge the fact that election cheating is always a possibility regardless of the kind of system used. In the many years we've had manual elections we've come to know and perhaps even ignored or accepted that cheating is already part and parcel of elections. Want to debate that? Go ahead but think about these questions first:

1. Have you ever personally filed a case against anyone for alleged electoral cheating?

2. Have you ever done anything beyond airing your indignation over rumors of electoral to your spouse, relative, friend, neighbor, barber/beautician or anyone of your favorite confidantes?

3. Have you ever been involved personally in vote padding/shaving, vote buying or any other form of electoral fraud?

I'm guessing you'll answer no to all three questions. That's ok. Try this next question.

1. Do you feel indignant, angry, frustrated and basically pissed off when you hear news about electoral fraud?

If you answer no then we have nothing more to discuss. But if your answer is yes then I refer you back to the three questions above.

I hope you see what I'm doing here. I'm simply trying to open your eyes to the reality that more often than not indignation over electoral fraud never really converts to real action. So, what's the point?

Now let's go back to my original point which I raised in the following sentence:

In the many years we've had manual elections we've come to know and perhaps even ignored or accepted that cheating is already part and parcel of elections.

So am I saying we should just accept electoral fraud? If you think I am then you really need to improve your analytical skills. Just like you I am totally against it. The only diference is I am pragmatic enough to accept that if cheating can happen it will happen no matter the system. Of course, considering all our past experiences with manual elections, it should be clear to us that cheating is inevitable under such a system.

And what about automated elections? Well, I am tempted to say that there will be no cheating under such a setup but I won't because, as we all probably know, there will always be someone out there who will try to beat the system. The good thing about this much maligned and misunderstood poll automation system we will be using in 2010 is that it is a new system. Don't be fooled by those who say its being new is a disadvantage. On the contrary, since the system is new the usual cheaters are in effect taken out of their  environment. Under the automated system many of the usual loopholes and gaps will be plugged and secured. Now, that's a monumental development if you ask me.

Going back to Akbayan's apprehensions. The partylist group says it is concerned over the possibility of new forms of cheating. Please note that the group itself acknowledges that what it is afraid of is just a possibility. If we're gonna let possibilities stop us from moving forward then we might as well not hold elections anymore. There are possibilities in everything. What Akbayan and all the other doomsayers out there refuse to acknowledge is the existence of facts that show that between manual and automated systems the latter is the significantly better one.

We just need to be open-minded and discerning enough to see through all the black propaganda. Would you choose a proven failure  over one that offers a higher chance of success?