By FFRANCESSCA ABALOS
Bulatlat.com

MANILA – Election watchdogs Kontra Daya and Computer Professionals Union (CPU) are demanding an explanation from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for using an updated version of the software used in the automated counting machines (ACMs). 

This comes after a video of a candidate circulated online, saying that the source code in the ACMs was not audited because it does not match the hash code in the audit report posted on Comelec’s website. The Comelec meanwhile, denied this claim.  

According to Kontra Daya and CPU, the ACMs in the Final Testing and Sealing of machines now use software version 3.5.0 with hashcode 0438, which is not certified in the Technical Evaluation Committee (TEC)’s Final AES Source Code Review Report. The most recent software update in the report to receive the mandatory TEC certification is version 3.4.0 with hashcode 3AD9. 

However, software version 3.5.0’s hashcode is present in Comelec’s official Source Code Hash Manifest. Comelec cited this in its “Fake News Alert” on the circulated claims that version 3.5.0 is unaudited. “The stated version 3.4 in the Local Source Code Review is the same version that underwent independent third-party audit and after it passed this, it was renamed as the version 3.5 that is currently being used in the ACMs based on what the candidate is showing in the video,” Comelec explained in Filipino.

But Kontra Daya said that “3.4.0 is not equal to 3.5.0.”

“The version used in the Final Testing and Sealing of machines is version 3.5.0 while only version 3.4.0 is certified. What kind of revisions were made to the final version? Why were such revisions implemented without proper announcement to the public?” Kontra Daya said in a statement. 

CPU also said, “A different system version could mean that changes were inserted into the source code, altering its entire function or creating, intentionally or unintentionally, a ‘backdoor’ that may be exploited to manipulate election results”.

The two groups noted in their statements that this discrepancy goes against the process to ensure automated election systems’ (AES) hardware and software components are “operating properly, securely, and accurately.” 

Kontra Daya also stressed that “If the Comelec fails to make an accounting of this process, then there is every reason to doubt the results of the election.”

The CPU also said that “transparency and verifiable integrity are paramount to maintaining public trust in our electoral system. A lack of demonstrable audit trails for critical components like the ACM source code undermines these principles entirely.” 

Both CPU and Kontra Daya now urged for manual vote counting and the repeal of the Automated Election System law. “We cannot just subscribe to the official narrative to just simply trust the machine. The machine and its inner workings should reflect the people’s vote and be subject to public scrutiny to ensure that it will record our vote,” Kontra Daya emphasized. (With reports from Anne Marxze Umil) (RVO)

Disclosure: Kontra Daya’s convenor, Danilo Arao is Bulatlat’s associate editor.