The deluge of election protests is not an indication that the automated election system (AES) was fraudulent, according to an official of the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

Comelec Spokesman James Jimenez said they are not surprised by the big number of election protests filed before them and the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET) since they expected this.

Jimenez said that just because there were some compact flash (CF) cards that were wrongly configured in the May 10 polls, it doesn’t mean that the protesting candidates were cheated.

“But that’s what they are trying to make it appear. They are saying if this happened, therefore the chances of cheating would be high. So let’s discover if there was cheating. That’s called fishing expedition,” he said.

“I think a lot of the cases will be proven to be just that,” he added.

“Ultimately, once we get past these cases, it will be proven positive that the elections were in fact wellrun, well-managed, and the results were not only credible but also accurate.”

Earlier it was reported that 56 electoral cases have already been filed with the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET) against the lawmakers who won in the last national and local elections.

The country's first automated elections last May 10 have been cited here and abroad for the speed at which the national results were known.