Commission on Elections Chair Sixto Brillantes Jr. said Monday that Dominion Voting Systems (DVS), the technology developer of the PCOS system, has finally given its consent to release the PCOS source code for Monday’s elections after months of negotiations.
Dominion and Smartmatic, the supplier of the PCOS machines that were first used in 2010, signed a deal in the United States allowing the source code to be brought here for review, Brillantes said, adding that he had also signed the deal.
Brillantes said representatives of SLI Global Solutions, a Denver-based certifying agency that checked Comelec’s Automated Election System (AES), arrived in the Philippines Sunday night with the PCOS source code. SLI kept the source code and withheld its release until Dominion gave their consent.
The poll chief said key players in the release and subsequent review of the source code are already in the Philippines except for DVS representatives, who are expected to arrive in the country either Monday night or Tuesday
“We have been discussing some details. We are not making any conclusions yet until Dominion comes in,” Brillantes said, adding they will start the source code review only after DVS representatives arrive in the country.
Comelec also met with its accredited citizens’ arms and the Comelec Advisory Council to thresh out details to facilitate the source code review.
Brillantes said they will call a conference on Wednesday of all stakeholders involved and interested in the review, including members of Congress, and leaders of political parties.
While the PCOS source code can now be reviewed, Brillantes said the review will be finished only after the elections. IT experts estimate the source code review of the PCOS to last from six months to a year. SLI also took around six months to review the AES and issue the certification.
“Hindi na ho matatapos ngayon kasi ho hindi naman mabilis ang source code review (It won’t be finished before the elections anymore since the source code review takes time),” Brillantes said.
The release of the source code ends months of negotiations among Comelec, Smartmatic and Dominion. The two foreign companies are embroiled in a civil suit in Delaware after Dominion cancelled its license agreement with Smartmatic for the use, sale and marketing of the PCOS technology worldwide.
The source code is a set of human readable instructions that tell the machines how to operate certain functions. The source code is translated to binary codes, a language that machines understand.
Election watchdogs and other groups said without the source code review, the credibility of the elections will be under question. Brillantes, on the other hand, has maintained that the source code review “is not a prerequisite for the validity of the elections” but admits that a source code in their hands would remove doubts on the credibility of the country’s second automated elections.
Under RA 9369 or the Election Automation Law, Comelec is required to open the automated election system source code for review by political parties and interested groups.
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