Field Test – Done!
The Field Test held on January 27thaddressed concerns about all aspects of the automated elections system: voting, transmission, counting and consolidation/canvassing. It proved the accuracy, security and reliability of the automated voting and counting machines.
This test was a huge success: all results were electronically transmitted to the municipal, provincial, national and central consolidation centers immediately after closure of the polls, using 2 transmission methods: GSM/GPRS and BGAN.
The main test comprised 10 Polling Centers in urban and rural areas in Metro Manila and in the provinces, 5 Municipal Canvassing Centers, 1 District Canvassing Center, 3 Provincial Canvassing Centers, 2 National Canvassing Centers, 1 Central Canvassing Center and 1 Broadcasting Center. There were 10 Precinct Count Optical Scan machines, plus 10 for contingency, 13 Canvassing Units (laptop and printer) and 13 Backup Canvassing Units (laptop and printer) deployed in the field.
A second field test was held on January 29th, solely to show the media how field testsare conducted. The scope of this test was smaller (about half) than that of the previous one.
Mock Election– Done!
The Mock Election was carried out exactly like a regular election. Voters had to check in, received a ballot, marked the ballot, scanned the ballot and deposited it in the ballot box. This end-to-end Mock Election used the final version of the election software, and covered actual voting, counting, transmission of precinct results, and consolidation of results from all canvassing levels. All the systems to be used on Election Day were tested and used by actual voters, actual PCOS operators, and actual CCS operators. This event comprised 9 polling Centers, 5 Municipal Canvassing Centers, 1 District Canvassing Center, 2 National Canvassing Centers, 1 Central Canvassing Center and 1 Broadcasting Center. Equipment used included 9 Precinct Count Optical Scan machines, plus 9 for Contingency, 10 Canvassing Units (laptop and printer) plus 10 for Backup. Field personnel in charge was 9 PCOS Technicians plus 9 backup, 6 CCS Technicians, 6 CCS Technicians, and 10 NSC Agents.
Lab Test– Done!
This audit was done to obtain systems acceptance by COMELEC. It was useful to clarify any doubts about systems accuracy, reliability and integrity. The test validated the performance of the following items:
• Smartmatic’s Election Management System (EMS).
• Vote counting using the SAES 1800 Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines.
• Smartmatic’s Real-Time Electoral Information System (REIS) for consolidation and canvassing of election results from PCOS machines transmitted through public telecommunication networks.
PreLAT– Done!
The PreLAT testing comprises a full functional test of all system components: Hardware (PCOS, Modems, Security Keys, Ballots, Printers, CCS stations), Software (PCOS Firmware, Modem Firmware and Canvassing Application) and Telecommunications Network. Each unit prepared for dispatch is started and zeroed, after which the ballot configurations for precincts are fed. Upon completion the ER is printed (zero votes) and results are transmitted to the same Canvassing sever that will be used on election day using the same public network to be used on election day. Once the test is completed units are rezeroed (every PCOS immediately, the CCS units only when all PCOS of that region have completed the test), and then packed and stored for dispatch.
Source Code Review– Done!
Source Code of the EMS, PCOS and Canvassing applications were made available for review since February 10th, 2010, in accordance with the Law of the Philippines (Republic Act 9369). Following its standard practice, Smartmatic has assisted the Commission in setting up a controlled environment ensuring all necessary safeguards for conducting the review; and has made available assistance from its Senior development staff.
Sealing and Testing Day – Done!
Testing and sealing activities were conducted 7–3 days before Election Day, when all the PCOS units have been deployed to the polling places. For the testing, the BEIs perfomed the following:
• PCOS diagnostics
• Open the election
• Voting using 10 test ballots
• Close the election
• Print the ERs (Election Returns)
Election Returns (where the number of votes per candidate is printed) would then be compared with a manual tally to be conducted by the BEIs. This activity has the following objectives:
• Make sure that the equipment is working correctly post-deployment;
• Show that the results from an electronic count and a manual count are the same.
