Malfunctioning SD cards causes delay in transmission of votes in Cebu 

Election officer Mariela B. Remoroza (center) chairs the Municipal Board of Canvassers (MBOC) in the town of Dumanjug town. Eduardo Lasala (left) is the member secretary while Leticia Cabillon is the vice chairperson of the MBOC. CDN Digital photo | Michelle Joy Padayhag

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Out of seven cities and 44 municipalities in the province of Cebu, one city and nine municipalities have yet to transmit their votes to the provincial Comelec.

As of 7 a.m. Tuesday, May 14, 2019, the provincial Comelec is still waiting for results of polls in Toledo City, Tabogon, Santa Fe, San Remigio, Bantayan, Ronda, Daanbantayan, Dumanjug, and San Fernando to complete the list. 

According to Lawyer Jerome Brillantes, the chairperson of the Provincial Board of Canvassers, Toledo City and Ronda have not transmitted their votes to the provincial Comelec due to malfunctioning SD cards. 

“We already reported the situation to the National Comelec, and we’re waiting for the go signal,” he explained. “They [National Comelec] will send us, through email, the configuration of the SD cards. Until now, we are still waiting.” 

Due these setbacks, Brillantes cannot predict when the Election Returns list for Cebu province will be completed, since they are still waiting for the National Comelec to send the configuration for the damaged SD cards 

Marvin Caracol, the Provincial Board of Canvassers CCS Operator, explained that SD cards are a different file system, that’s why they are prone to damage.

“Duha man na ka SD card: A and B, the main and the back-up. So kung usa sa mga files sa main SD card wala na copy sa back-up SD card, mu malfunction siya,” he said.

(There are two SD cards: A and B, the main and the back-up. So if one of the files in the main SD card wasn’t copied in the back-up SD card, it will malfunction.)

Caracol further explained that once the SD card has malfunctioned, then it cannot be used anymore. Voters in Toledo City and Ronda who were affected by the SD card malfunction had to leave their ballots in the box. 

“We need to ask for the configuration file of the malfunctioned SD card in Manila, at the Sta Rosa warehouse. Once they pass it here, then it’s back to zero for Ronda and Toledo. Meaning, they will have to re-feed the ballots through the voting machines again for the files to be copied into the new SD card configuration,” he explained.

Caracol said that the sending of the configuration can’t be done that fast. 

“Dili man sya swede mahimo na I-email ra dayon,” he said. “We have to go through a ticketing process. So sa queuing ta nadugay. Daghan man ga linya na uban pud na precincts around the country na na-affect sa SD card malfunction.” 

(That can’t just be emailed right away. We have to through a ticketing process. It’s in the queuing where it’ll take a while because there are a lot of other malfunctioning SD cards from other precincts around the country that are also lined up.)

The rest of the municipalities are expected to transmit their votes to the provincial Comelec within Tuesday. /bmjo