PPCRV begins audit of 1st BARMM parliamentary elections

MANILA, Philippines—The Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) officially began its audit of the first Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections Friday, at AMA Makati.

PPCRV spokesperson Ana Singson said the poll watchdog had received about 21 percent of the electoral returns (ERs) from the 5,212 precincts in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), or about 1,176 ERs.

Tawi-Tawi’s ERs are expected to arrive later today, while those from Basilan are expected tomorrow. Returns from Maguindanao and Lanao are expected to arrive by Monday.

“We could do this by Wednesday. This is already finished,” Singson said.

PPCRV is conducting an unofficial parallel count by comparing the printed copies of ERs with electronically transmitted results.

“So, meron po kaming dalawang datos. Kami lang po ang organization na may dalawang datos na puwedeng mapagkumparahan. Yung una, yung transmitted votes na galing sa aming server. Ang pangalawa, yung physical ERs na kinukuha namin sa bawat presinto. Pinagtatabi namin ’yun… to check kung pareho,” Singson said.

(So, we have two sets of data. We are the only organization that has two sets of data that can be compared. The first is the transmitted votes that come from our server. The second is the physical electoral returns that we collect from each polling precinct. We put them side by side… to check if they match.)

She added that parallel vote checking is integral to verifying the accuracy of the results.

“Importante po ito kasi kung may dagdag-bawas, makikita naman eh. Kasi hawak namin yung physical ERs, hawak namin yung transmitted [votes],” she said.

(This is important because if there are any additions or deductions, we will be able to see them. We have the physical electoral returns, and we have the transmitted [votes].)

PPCRV currently houses its command center at the AMA Makati Medical Annex Building, the official IT partner for the elections. Thirty volunteers are working on auditing at the command center from today until Wednesday, excluding weekends./dp