Comelec: Too early to tell if Smartmatic still tapped in 2025

People place their ballots in a counting machine after casting their votes during the presidential election at a polling precinct in Quezon City, suburban Manila on May 9, 2022.

AFP / Ted Aljibe

MANILA, Philippines — With its internal investigation into the Smartmatic vote-counting machine mishaps that saddled most of the 2022 polls still ongoing, the Commission on Elections Thursday said that it is still too early to tell if Smartmatic will be the commission's partner of choice to provide poll machines again in 2025.

At a press briefing Thursday afternoon, Comelec spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco said that the Comelec's probe into the faulty vote counting machines is purely looking at which components failed or if procedural tech matters caused the widespread delays on election day. 

"We want to determine the reasons. Where did the problems come from if it was purely procedural? We welcome and we are already starting the probe, and the goal of that is to improve the 2025 elections," he said, claiming that the Comelec still held transparent elections overall with no anomalies, just "tech issues that need to be addressed." 

Full Story: https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2022/05/12/2180643/comelec-too-early-tell-if-smartmatic-still-tapped-2025