MANILA, Philippines — The Automated Election System Watch (AES Watch) said Smartmatic Corporation, the service provider of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in the May 2010 automated polls, should be disqualified from participating in the bidding for a new technology in the 2013 polls.

The election watchdog group said Smartmatic does not deserve to be given another chance at participating in the Philippine elections since they fumbled in their initial try last year.

“Not only was Smartmatic’s ownership of the election technology used in the May 2010 automated election questionable but it failed to deliver according to the Terms of Reference and the basic technical requirements of transparency, accuracy, reliability, and auditability as provided for by the poll automation law,” said AES.

To recall, the introduction of the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines in the 2010 elections resulted to having long lines of voters in the polling precincts with many still naïve on how the system works.

Doubts in the results also surfaced after the Random Manual Audit (RMA) conducted showed that the results in the PCOS-generated did not match the accuracy specifications required by the Comelec to their service provider, Smartmatic – Total Information Management (TIM) Corporation.

The AES Watch said that while the Comelec has yet to make an official move against Smartmatic Corporation, the Comelec Advisory Council should consider that as a recommendation.

Under the Poll Automation Law, the CAC is tasked to recommend to the Comelec “the most appropriate, secure, applicable and cost-effective technology” to be used in the 2013 elections.