DATE: September 27, 2002

PUBLICATION: Malaya

TITLE: Botong Pinoy

AUTHOR: Ducky Paredes

“Botong Pinoy may be one of the most modern computer voting systems in the world.”

RAFFY Garcia, the man who gave us instant driver's licenses and NBI clearances, presented his ideas on what he calls "Botong Pinoy' to the Commission on Elections yesterday. Here is part of his presentation:

"Picture this scenario: You go to your registered precinct and you find a computer that checks if you are registered to vote in that precinct not through the use of an ID card but by recognizing your face (after it had checked your face at the time of registration against all the faces of all registered voters at the speed of 1 million faces per second to make sure you have not registered more than once)?

"After it recognized you by face, it then checks your scanned fingerprint against the fingerprint that you have on file in the Comelec Database to make sure it really is you before you are allowed to vote?

"After it is sure that you are who you claim you are by making use of the latest facial and fingerprint biometric technology, the system then guides you through the entire voting process by talking to you in Pilipino, English or the dialect prevalent in the region where the precinct is located? A computer that actually talks to you!

"How would you like a voting system that allows you to vote for the candidates or parties of your choice simply by pointing at their names, faces or parties on the computer screen as the faces and names of candidates for each position are displayed on the screen?

"How would you like a voting system that automatically tabulates all votes cast in each precinct, then transmits the tabulated votes for the precinct at the end of the voting day to a secure Internet Website where its electronic signature is verified before it is allowed to post its tabulated votes, and where all the votes from all precincts are automatically tabulated on a Barangay, City or Municipal, Provincial or Regional and National levels, totally eliminating the pernicious practice of Dagdag-Bawas that has eroded the trust of the people in the electoral process?

"How would you like a voting system that uses the latest state of the art computer systems, every election year, and even helps in promoting the use of IT technology in the Philippines and yet costs the Comelec only one-fourth to one- fifth of the cost of acquiring the latest computer system?

"Sounds too good to be true? Welcome to Botong Pinoy!

"Botong Pinoy may be one of the most modern computer voting systems in the world, making full use of most of the proven technologies available today but leaving a lot of room for future improvements as technology continues on its logarithmic climb to faster, better, smaller and cheaper computer systems.

"The system that we are proposing is a two-level system: a precinct level voting and tabulation system developed by Mega Data, the implementor of the fast and convenient kiosks used by the NBI and the LTO to renew NBI Clearances and Driver Licenses, coupled with an Internet-based Nationwide Precinct Total Tabulation system developed and implemented by Polistrat and already proven to work in the last elections.

"There are several basic premises that are the foundation of the entire concept:

"1. We believe that the Comelec must never buy hardware, considering that technological innovations every six months will render any computer equipment acquired for any elections obsolete almost immediately after they are acquired. Instead, all hardware should be leased! This way, if the equipment can be leased for three months for one fifth of the cost of acquisition, the Comelec's computerization budget can be spread out over five elections (or fifteen years).

"2. The Comelec should only own its database and its software! These can be upgraded and updated from election to election (every three years) depending on what new operating platforms are available for the current elections.

"3. In order to afford the latest high-tech identification systems that make use of facial and/or fingerprint biometrics, the Comelec again should only rent the operating biometric platforms for the duration of the election build-up and actual voting. This way, it doesn't cost the Comelec the millions of dollars that hardware-based biometric systems like the fingerprint system used by SSS would cost.

"We propose to install a computer system in every voting precinct throughout the country. That's approximately 200,000 computers for 200,000 precincts. Where there is no power available, we will provide battery-powered inverters to power the computers.

"The most current version of the Precinct Voting and Tabulation system will be loaded into each of these computer systems as well as the most current Precinct Database for the 200 to 300 voters registered for each particular precinct.

"As the voter approaches the voting machine, the video camera immediately captures his/her facial biometrics and compares this with its database. The system will then ask the voter to put his registered finger on the fingerprint scanner to extract his/her fingerprint biometrics, which is then compared with the stored fingerprints of those in the candidate list extracted from the Precinct database. The system will authorize the voter to vote only if there is a match. Otherwise, the system will alert the precinct supervisor.

"The voter will be presented with the pictures, names and parties of all the candidates for each position (from local to regional to national). The voter will also be allowed to vote by party to enter a vote for the entire party slate. What is convenient is that the voter votes simply by touching the screen over the face or name of the candidate or party!

"The voter indicates that he/she is finished voting by pressing the appropriate section on the computer screen. At that point, the system will print a computer-generated ballot of the candidates that the voter voted for. The ballot will also have his/her computer printed fingerprint. The ballot itself is dropped into the precinct ballot box for manual tabulation after the electoral process has been completed to act as an audit trail and a check and balance to the computerized tabulation system.

"As each voter enters his/her vote, the Precinct Level computer system will tabulate the votes for the entire precinct such that at the end of the day, the Precinct supervisor can generate a precinct level Tally Sheet at the same time transmitting the same to a specific website in the Internet to provide Barangay, City, Municipal, Provincial, Regional, and National tabulation automatically!

"This system will allow the early release of computerized election results in a matter of minutes after the Precinct Level Tallies have all been posted."

This is something that can be done and it is home-grown, designed and created by Pinoys. Let's all go for Botong Pinoy!