I don’t want my vote on Smartmatic to influence other members—Comelec chair

Commission on Elections Chairman George Erwin Garcia said on Wednesday that he does not want his vote to influence the Commission's decision on the petition seeking to disqualify Smartmatic Corporation from bidding for the automated election system for the upcoming 2025 midterm election.

"This is my vote. I don't want to influence the members of the Commission. I told them that they will not hear from me asking them to vote this or to vote for that. You will have your discretion because in the final analysis that is the real reason why we are a collegial body," he said.

Garcia said that prior to making his decision for the disqualification case against Smartmatic, he reviewed all matters that fit under the law.

"I have my decision already, I have already studied the matter, I already studied the circumstances, the law applicable, so I express this to them as far as the chair is concerned," he added.

The chairman pledged to the public that regardless of the Commission's decision, it would be for the betterment of the country.

"We promise to you that whatever our decision is, this will always be for the good of the country, for the good of our election management, and for the purpose of upholding, affirming the integrity of each and every election that the Comelec is conducting," said Garcia.

The petition entitled "In the Matter of the Petition to Review the Qualifications of Smartmatic Philippines, Inc. as a Prospective Bidder in View of its Failure in the 2022 Elections to Comply with Certain Minimum System Capabilities that Resulted in Serious and Grave Irregularities in the Transmission and Receipt of Election Returns and, if warranted, to Disqualify Smartmatic from Participating in the Bidding for the 2025 Automated Election System" was filed on 15 June.

This was filed by former Department of Information and Communications Technology chief Eliseo Mijares Rio Jr., Augusto Cadelina Lagman, Franklin Faygola Ysaac, and Leonardo Olivera Odono.

Smartmatic responded to the filed case against them that the allegations are "not only false but are mere baseless speculations with a singular goal of maligning our company."

"We confidently stand by the demonstrable 100% accuracy of the results of the 2022 elections in the same way that we remain very confident in the untarnished reliability and integrity of our products and solutions," Smartmatic said in a statement.