Botong Pinoy

eTabulation FAQ's

What security features are present in the e-Tabulation module of Botong Pinoy?: The only security features we are allowed to disclose are the electronic security keys (electronic dongle) and encryption in the e-tabulation module. An electronic security key is a hardware based security feature that contains a unique electronic signature. This signature is required in order for software to work. The encryption Botong Pinoy is using is the same encryption method used in online credit card transactions, which is very secure.

What kind of fraud occurs during tabulation?: Counting and tabulation is the most critical part of the election process. This is where the infamous “dagdag-bawas” occurs. Dagdag-bawas is the process of changing the counts tabulated for a candidate by taking away votes from the other candidates. This is done when transcribing precinct level counts into barangay counts, barangay counts into municipal counts, municipal counts into district counts, district counts into provincial counts and from provincial counts into national counts. As a result, the cheating that occurs here is not geometric but exponential. Other methods used are “ballot stealing,” “ballot switching,” ”ballot stuffing” or “ballot padding”. Ballot stealing involves the stealing of the ballot box so that the election returns can not be counted. Ballot switching is the switching of the ballot box with another that contains fake ballots. Ballot stuffing or padding is adding fake ballots into the ballot box.

How does Botong Pinoy eliminate fraud in tabulation?: Since the tabulation is done internally by the computer and then transmitted to Comelec at the end of the voting day, stealing or tapering with the ballots will be useless.

Since the tabulation is done internally why is there a need to print ballots?: The printing of ballots is done for the sake of auditing. If there will be any election protests the ballots will be used to audit the system.

Can the ballots printed by Botong Pinoy be duplicated and added to the tally?: No. Each printed ballot will have an encrypted two-dimensional barcode which lists the votes cast by the voter. In the event of a recount, the Botong Pinoy System will only scan and count each ballot once (through the barcode). If the same barcode is scanned again, the system will advise that the ballot has already been counted and will not accept it into the count.

How safe is Botong Pinoy from hacking?: Each and every computer inside the precinct will not be connected to a network until the end of the voting day. When it connects, each computer will only have a window of a few minutes to transmit the relevant data to Comelec. A hacker will not have enough time to hack into the system and manipulate the votes.

How safe will the Commission on Elections (Comelec) server be from hacking?: Time is a hacker’s greatest enemy. Hacking is a time consuming tedious process wherein a hacker investigates and tries to infiltrate a system. If you limit the time a system is on the internet, the chance of it being hacked is greatly reduced. Plus, a hacker will need the address of the server which will not be known to the public and will be constantly moving. The server will not be available to the internet until end of voting day. In addition, each computer in the precinct level will be equipped with a hardware electronic key. This key is unique to each computer in each precinct. When connecting to the Comelec Server, the server will search for the electronic key before it allows transmission of data from any computer in the precincts.

Will Botong Pinoy be affected by computer virus or computer worms?: A computer virus or computer worm is a malicious program created by programmers in order to take advantage of security holes in a system. In order to be able to exploit the weaknesses, the programmers will need to have prior knowledge on the software-knowledge in terms of what programming language the software is written on, the actual program code etc. Botong Pinoy’s program code will not be published. The Botong Pinoy software will not be deployed until a few months prior to election. Therefore, programmers will have very little chance in creating malicious codes for it. If somehow a virus is able to be copied into the system, Botong Pinoy will still be safe because the only thing that will be executed during voting day will be the program and nothing else.

How will the votes be transmitted?: The votes will be transmitted to the internet through dial-up’s, local area networks (LAN), virtual private networks (VPN), cable internet, digital subscriber line (DSL), and/or whatever methods required to connect to the internet.

How safe will the data be during transmission?: Since there will be no dedicated connection in place during elections, each computer will have an unknown internet address. With the short period the computer will be online, computer geniuses will have a hard time intercepting the data and manipulating them. Aside from that, the computers will not only transmit to one destination but to ten or twenty different destinations. Hackers will have to hack each and every site to which a computer transmits. Even if somehow the data is intercepted and modified, this will be useless because the hacker will not have the electronic security key when they transmit.