Mass electronic fraud in the 2025 elections will remain a big problem, according to Kontra Daya after it participated in a demonstration of Miru Systems Co. Ltd.’s machines. Last year, Miru was awarded the ₱18-billion contract to manage the electronic election system, after Smartmatic was disqualified due to anomalies.

The existing biggest problem is intransparent or closed vote counting performed by machines and not by people.

“COMELEC insists on speed as transmission happens immediately after the printing of the election returns. It stresses that waiting for any manual tally based on the ACM’s (automated counting machine) ballot images may take several hours,” Kontra Daya said on June 29.

“In other words, COMELEC wants the people to trust the machine and does not see the need to verify first through manual counting prior to transmission.”

The group questioned Comelec’s overconfidence in Miru Systems.

“We should also be wary of electronic manipulation of ballots especially as we have a new, untested electoral provider,” Kontra Daya said.

The vulnerability of the electronic electoral system to manipulation and the anyone’s ability with sufficient knowledge to hack the systems of government agencies has been proven in recent elections, especially in the recently concluded presidential election.

Worse, Miru Systems is notorious for widespread fraud and failed elections in Iraq, Congo and Argentina. In Congo alone, up to 65% of its machines reportedly malfunctioned on election day. Kontra Daya said the election situation in the Philippines will not be different in the hands of Miru.

The group calls on the government for a hybrid implemention which includes voters in the counting process to ensure election transparency. It has previously opposed the government giving foreign companies control over the country’s elections.