MANILA, Philippines--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In the wake of the first automated national election in the Philippines, Smartmatic today announced that its voting solution performed with complete reliability and accuracy. During the election, the machines transmitted accurately, rapidly and reliably, and after the polls closed, the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) announced preliminary results, which were accepted by the representatives of the different political parties.

“Today’s election was an important step forward for the Philippines,” said Jose Melo, Chairman at COLEMEC. “By automating our voting process we are able to deliver a faster, more transparent and accurate election and final vote tally. The fact that all parties accept the results, which have been delivered in record time, is a testament to the success of our automated election.”

In the closely monitored election, most voters selected Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III as president. The votes were tallied in record time, marking the first-time a victor was known within 12 hours.

Additional Key electoral statistics include:

SMARTMATIC SOLUTION: SIMPLIER, FASTER + MORE RELIABLE

The voters in the Philippines used Smartmatic’s voting solution, which was able to significantly reduce the time needed to cast and transmit votes. Upon the closing of the polls, the machines counted the votes within seconds and transmitted the results to the Canvassing Servers. Less than 24 hours later, more than 90% of all the results had been transmitted and tallied.

This marks a drastic improvement from all Philippine elections to date where it often took months before the final election results were delivered. In the past, the long delays in election results frequently led to social unrest, disputed results and fraud allegations.

The teachers appointed to man the precincts were usually victims to threads or harassments to influence the counts, and used to spend more than 8 hours counting votes, are specially relieved by the speed and security automated counting brought to the elections. Also voters praised the easiness of the voting, compared to a manual system that required them to write down up to 35 names and used to take almost 20 minutes in average.

“The speed, transparency and universal acceptance of the election results is evidence that our electoral solution aides the democratic process,” said Antonio Mugica, CEO of Smartmatic.

SELECTED QUOTES:

The following are selected quotes taken from news reports noting officials supporting the use of e-voting in the election:

“The new electronic voting was a great leap forward for ensuring a smooth and protected vote. It was a fulfillment of the automation that we pushed for from the start (…). To all who made automation a reality and a success, congratulations!” | Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, President of the Philippines.

"I had the privilege of observing the electoral process (…) and was impressed by the manner in which this first nation-wide automated election was conducted. Voters seemed generally comfortable with this new system, turn-out was high, and the automation process seemed to work well, with relatively few technical hitches” | Alistair MacDonald, EU Ambassador to the Philippines.

"Our observations suggested that this process was carried out smoothly, and the results transmitted rapidly, in the great majority of cases" | Alistair MacDonald, EU Ambassador to the Philippines.

"The Embassy of the United States extends warm congratulations to the people of the Philippines for achieving another milestone in their nation's democratic history with the May 10 elections” | Embassy of the United States in the Philippines.

“… That’s the beauty of automation. There’s no room for cheating” | Tita de Villa , Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV).

“The success of the elections would be a feather in the cap of the Comelec, Smartmatic-TIM, the police and military” | Gary Olivar, Deputy presidential spokesperson.

“I’m smiling again. The automation is a success” | Jose Melo, Chairman of Comelec.

About Smartmatic

Smartmatic is a multinational company that designs and deploys technological solutions aimed at helping governments fulfill, in the most efficient way, their commitments with their citizens. It is one of the largest cutting-edge technology suppliers, with a wide and proven experience in the United States, Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.

Smartmatic's competitive strength lies on its cutting-edge technology and expertise in three key areas: Election Solutions, Identity Management Solutions and Public Safety Solutions.