Poll watchdog PPCRV to parallel count local posts, party-lists for the first time

Metro Manila, Philippines - For the first time, poll watchdog Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) will conduct parallel counting of votes for local positions and party-lists, it announced on Monday, May 5.

PPCRV, an accredited citizen arm of the Commission on Elections (Comelec), only tallied the votes for national candidates in previous polls.

PPCRV spokesperson Ana Singson explained the group could count local positions and party-list votes as tallying is expected to be faster because Comelec incorporated a quick response code in election returns or the voting results gathered from precincts. Volunteers just have to scan the code to access the data. In previous elections, volunteers had to encode the data from the election returns manually.

For the upcoming elections, PPCRV volunteers will have to compare the votes transmitted from the server and the printed summary of vote counting machines.

“We are very grateful to Comelec for giving us one of the five servers that will receive transmissions directly from the automated counting machines nationwide,” Singson said during the command center launch.

She said PPCRV is expecting the parallel count to be quicker than previous polls because of technological advancements.

“Our technology resources, our IT (information technology) resources are some of the best in the land,” she said.

Aside from parallel counting, the PPCRV will also guard the elections and conduct random manual audit.

The organization has over 400,000 volunteers to date.

PPCRV’s command center at the PLDT office in Sampaloc, Manila was launched on Monday. Comelec chairman George Garcia graced the event and noted the commission’s partnership with the PPCRV.

“PPCRV is a supporter of Comelec and that’s the reason why sabi natin dapat [we said] automatic ang kanyang [was the] accreditation,” Garcia said.

On May 8, the PPCRV will launch its call center where voters can reach out for poll clarifications and concerns.