SC junks petition against automated polls

MANILA, Philippines - The Supreme Court (SC) has junked a petition to stop the Commission on Elections (Comelec) from using the automated election system (AES) due to glitches in the polls last May.

The high court dismissed the petition for injunction filed by lawyer Manuelito Luna to compel the Comelec to instead use the Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) election system.

“The petition on its face is substantially deficient and must be dismissed outright,” the SC said in its ruling.

The SC said the petitioner failed to substantiate his allegations that the Comelec was performing a ministerial function – a key element in mandamus petitions.

The petition also lacked merit, it said.

The high court upheld the legality of the AES in 2009.

Luna said the Comelec should cease from using the AES, citing malfunctions in the precinct count optical scan machines, particularly the disabling of its security features and misprinting of ballot entries.

He said the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines also rejected and misread the ballots and the compact flash cards were corrupted.