2010 Automated Elections Managing the Change 171.0

Filipinos are engaged but Tech usability issues can disenfranchise.
We have always been enthusiastic about elections with past participation around the 80% range.

And Juan voter was well engaged at the Maharlika Elementary School in Taguig as voter, as BEI member, as monitor, as media and, as typical, kibitzer in mock elections to further test the automation machines.

Still, the elections is more than just about the Precinct Count Optical Scan or PCOS machine. More mock elections must be conducted to test the whole voting process and at the same time continue voters’ education with exposure to the technology.

For Updates. Please find link to all SYNTHEiST automated elections posts at the top of the sidebar at right or under SYNTHESiST Potpourri.

1. Advance post on Voters Assistance Center implemented by Res 8786
2. New post on Implementing Automated Elections in a Context of Cheating and Mistrust
3. Next post on First Inquirer Presidential Debate

Other issues like technology usability for vulnerable sectors like the elderly and the ‘computer-anxious’ – those who will not vote because computers intimidate them, polling station traffic and congestion, and Board of Election Inspectors or BEI and voter interactions with updated General Instructions as a consequence of both technology change and of congestion need to be worked on.

Technology Usability. For me, usability is a major issue in change management because, for example, the ‘computer-anxious’ who may not vote because fear of technology can comprise up to 13% of registered voters (my estimate from 35% rural by 37% with elementary and below education).

Without them, a bias to the youth and the city-bred can emerge and materially affect the vote and future governance.

Usability issues can also make a lie of the surveys; cross-tabs need to be analyzed to determine who gains or loses when whole sectors are disenfranchised.

IFES civil society organization (CSO) Workshop on Monitoring Automated Elections. Mike Yard, a technical resource speaker at the International Foundation for Electoral Systems workshop held on February 5, shared his experiences and resource materials on the automated elections in Brazil and Venezuela.

From his presentation, I think the local civil society watchdogs like the PPCRV and Namfrel need to re-focus some of their efforts to the newer critical control points specific to the automation process and on technology usability.

He started from the general before getting into the specifics of automated elections drawing out the mind map on what to observe in elections on the white board. Note: That’s Karla G of IFES in the picture above.

(The IFES workshop was supported by USAID whose Gerry Porta is shown with the PCOS machine.

Vicky Dulcera of the Voter Education group at the Comelec gave an enlightening demonstration of the PCOS machine at the workshop.)

Elections in General. For Mr. Yard, there is still ongoing debate as to the major purpose of elections in general around two ends of a continuum: the selection of the right leader or the expression of the will of the people.

Historically, in the polis of Athens, the will of the people was expressed directly on votes for specific issues.

In more recent and complex times, elections moved towards choosing leaders and parties that lean toward ideologies – Republican, Democrat, Labour, Tory or Liberal – that have their signature prescriptions thus voters indirectly indicate preferences on handling political issues.

I do think Mr. Yard started with the general and told the story of Africa below as a cautionary tale that election monitoring is not just a technical or theoretical issue.

A Story of South Africa. He did relate an interesting story about the first elections after apartheid in South Africa in 1994 when the two ends above contradicted each other but was resolved for the good of the South African nation.

Many major political changes, like the White Russian in 1917, fail after a counter-revolution due to poor political leadership. In this story and despite his personal hardships of two decades in prison, Mr. Mandela exhibited brilliant leadership for the South African nation.

Up to 5:23 a.m. on canvassing day, Nelson Mandela’s ANC party was on the verge of winning a clear majority of the elections even as votes from their stronghold in the townships were still to be counted.

If the ANC got those votes, the net effect would have been a single-party parliament mainly of the ANC soon after the de Clerk’s mainly white government gave up power.

Then, after 5:23, votes canvasses came in that reversed the statistical trend to the final 62% win by the ANC that in effect, allowed the former white-dominated party a clear minority voice in the National Unity Government.

After three years of hard negotiation from his release, only a Mandela could have the credibility to pull off such election result. The people accepted their leader’s choice that allowed the country to slowly adjust to the big transition.

This story of South Africa highlights the ongoing debate among election theorists on the purpose of elections.

A Successful Workshop. I believe the workshop on Friday met the goals set by IFES Country Chief, Beverly Hagerdon-Thakur:

• to impart knowledge on key election technology concepts;
• to provide civil society partners with guidance on what aspects of the process need to be prioritized;
• to update methodologies and reporting tools on monitoring automated elections; and
• to enhance and expand existing efforts of civil society groups to monitor the elections by way of encouraging other CSO groups to consider looking into monitoring other aspects of the process in together with other partners.

A more in-depth workshop is planned with Mr. Mike Yard, the election technology expert, in March.

More Needs to be Done. At the mock elections in Taguig, the following day Saturday, the problems directly related to the PCOS machines and technology are being identified and dealt with one by one and properly.

What worries me more is the man-technology interface and the substantial training that needs to be done for the voters and the staff designated to run the election. There is a program designed to do this. Observers and monitors should continue their vigilance to make sure all gaps are covered for a clean and fair election.

The other issue that is fundamental but has stayed under the radar is congestion resulting from precinct clustering (that in turn was due to budget limitations). This issue has been identified and action initiated. A General Instruction was released on December 29 (Full text here or at Navigation bar above.) but this version reflects more of the manual process. There is barely three weeks to embed the fixes in the supplemental GI before the training starts.

I hope this issue is addressed as well as they involve changes in layout and workflow given the fixed limitation of the room size.

Pictures from the Maharlika Mock Elections.

The traditional tri-media seemingly monitors the mock elections process closely. And they are focused on preventing cheating.

Unfortunately, it seems to me that they are letting the candidates and the parties dictate the agenda. The focus seem to be more on the technology than the politics. In general, there does not seem to be a media challenge to the candidates in behalf of the nation on the bigger issues like program of government and the like.

It may well be that the 2010 elections will mark the rise of new media like blogs on the internet by citizen journalists. If they do it right, BlogWatch can be the nascent Huffington Post for the Philippines. And Noemi Lardizabal-Dado the Philippine version of Arianna H?

With new and old friends. I met Dr. Arwyn Serrano of the PPCRV during the Comelec simulation studies on congestion in November. He is passionate about making sure that 2010 elections is clean and fair.

I first met my long-time friend, Telibert Laoc of Namfrel, during the snap elections in 1985 and the consultations for the Constitution in 1986. We are both from Cebu and renewed our friendship last year.

I feel good to have both of them working hard to help make this election clean and fair.

Note: The Philippine Daily Inquirer sponsored a debate among the Presidential candidates at UP National Theater. Click here for my take on the debate.

That’s me, SYNTHESiST, signing off from the mock elections at Maharlika Elementary School in Taguig!.

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