Empower Elections with Integrity
Fraud-Free Election is Possible!
Yes, you read that right! The election system can be fraud-free as long as you, as the voter, the poll watchers, and election watchdogs, will participate in the verification of your votes during the election. OpenVCM developed a mobile app to verify and count voter receipts, ensuring that votes are recorded as cast and counted as recorded!
Resisting Insider Threats
Insider Threat is the number one risk in the election system. It is when a malicious insider tampers with the vote-counting machine so that the result favors the malicious insider’s chosen candidate.
While the COMELEC has measures to mitigate risks, such as source code review and random manual audit, we believe there is a far superior alternative to gaining the nation’s confidence in our election system.
True Vote Transparency
Verifiable Voting Scheme
Verifying your vote is a straightforward process. It's about ensuring that each machine has accurately recorded and counted our votes. We don’t need to worry about the technicalities of the software or the system audit log. What matters is that all the ballots have been correctly recorded and tallied. And the good news is, this is possible without the need for IT security experts to review the audit logs of each machine. The verification process starts with you, the voter. You are the first verifier – your role is to check the receipt. Then, we have the poll watchers, who will verify the receipts against the QR codes, count the receipts, and the app makes the tally. The app’s tally will then be compared to the machine’s final output, or the Election Return (ER). But remember, it all begins with your verification at the voting booth. In essence, this verification scheme is a collective effort. It requires the participation of every single voter, the vigilance of the poll watchers, and the oversight of the election watchdogs. Each of us plays a crucial role in the security chain that protects the integrity of our votes. Your participation is not just important, it's integral. The OpenVCM, with its mobile counting app, is here to help you count receipts accurately. Does the COMELEC support the verification of receipts? Let’s review what George Garcia said.
Guarantee Integrity
COMELEC Supports Verification
It is correct that the COMELEC supports vote verification. However, in the demonstration, George explained that the teachers would scan the receipts using the attached scanner in the counting machine. There’s a little problem with this approach. Imagine buying a kilo of chicken from a vendor in a wet market, and you don’t trust the vendor’s weighing scale, but the same vendor offers a different weighing scale. Would you still trust it? The answer is No. You go to the central weighing scale in the wet market, popularly known as “Timbangan ng Bayan,” to ensure that the weight of the chicken indeed weighs a kilo. The same applies to our votes; you, the voter, the poll watchers, the election watchdogs, and the OpenVCM app are all part of a collective responsibility to ensure the integrity of the process. Together, we will act as “Timbangan ng Bayan.” This will serve as a mantra in our election system, a reminder that we must always uphold: "We don't simply trust, we will always verify!" This is not just a principle, but a necessity in ensuring the fairness and accuracy of our elections. Thankfully, the COMELEC chairman fully supports independent verification when he stated on TV, “… We will allow NAMFREL, PPCRV, the majority party, and minority party even to capture the QR codes so they can immediately send to their headquarters the results on a per-precinct basis.” This is a crucial step towards ensuring that our election system adheres to the principle of independent verification. Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GmRmhH4jNQ
The OpenVCM Approach for High Integrity Election
4-step End-to-End Verification
This 4-step approach ensures foolproof verification of our votes!
1st Step: Voter Verifies the Receipt
The first step of the verification process is for the voter to check the receipt to see if it accurately prints all the voted candidates. If yes, it should be deposited in a designated box beside the counting machine.
2nd Step: Verifying the QR Code vs Printed Names Verification
After the polling is closed, a team of poll watchers scans the QR code of every receipt using the OpenVCM app's COMPARE feature. The feature compares the app's output against the receipt's printed text to check if the candidates are the same.
3rd Step: Persistent QR code counting
(In parallel to step 2) A team of 2 poll watchers counts the receipts using the mobile app's COUNT feature as if the receipts are like items in the grocery store! This process may take 35-70 minutes to complete to scan 700 receipts. After the count is finished, the app will tally the result, and the poll watcher compares the app's result against the printed ELECTION RETURN.
Step 4: Printed Election Return vs Online Result
The result of the printed Election Return can be compared against the official count published online. Also, OpenVCM servers will receive the tally results of the OpenVCM app users across the Philippines so that the public can verify the votes online.
Your Advocate for Electoral Integrity
Championing transparent and fair elections in the Philippines. Let us join hands to safeguard our votes!
Reach Out for Transparent Elections
Contact OpenVCM to support transparent election advocacy.