Sunday, May 26, 2013

Senator-elect wants probe on ‘60-30-10’ poll results pattern

Source: Sun Star
JV-Ejercito.3MANILA — Senator-elect JV Ejercito Estrada on Thursday called on the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to look into the supposed “60-30-10″ pattern of poll results bared by a math professor at the Ateneo de Manila University over the weekend.
Estrada is one of the three candidates of the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) who made it to the top 12 in last week’s election. The other nine are from the administration coalition Team PNoy.
“So many reports from political leaders from the provinces said there is really something fishy with the results. This should be investigated to make sure that future elections would reflect the true voice of the people,” Estrada said in a text message.
According to a newspaper report, Ateneo math professor Lex Muga said he observed a “60-30-10″ pattern in the official election results canvassed by the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC). It said that candidates from Team PNoy consistently got 60 percent of the votes, while UNA bets received 30 percent and the independent candidates got the last 10 percent.
On his Facebook post on May 19, Muga shared what he called an “interesting pattern” in the official and canvassed results released by the Comelec, whose commissioners sit as members of the National Board of Canvassers.
“How about adding the votes of the 33 senatorial candidates? Then add all the votes of the 12 Team PNoy candidates? Also, the nine UNA candidates? And the 12 other candidates? Then find the percentages of each of the three blocks based on the total votes for senators. Do these to each of the 16 official Comelec canvass reports and we have a smooth and interesting pattern,” he posted.
Muga, along with other information technology (IT) experts, however clarified that they were not insinuating that the poll results were manipulated.
Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes said Wednesday the supposed pattern was being checked by the poll body’s IT department.
Reelected Senator Aquilino Pimentel III of Team PNoy said he will talk to Muga to “listen to his theory/observation.”
Pimentel, who claims he was a victim of election fraud in the 2007 midterm polls, is the chairman of the Senate committee on electoral reforms and people’s participation.
Reelected Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, also an administration bet, said IT experts should also study local certificates of canvass (COCs) to prove their theory.
“That’s probably the true voting pattern of the voters in this elections. But they should also look at the COCs per province so they’d be able to see the different voting preferences,” Trillanes said. (Kathrina Alvarez/Sunnex)
- – - – - – - – - – - – - – -
RELATED STORY:

’60-30-10′ vote pattern doesn’t prove fraud: lawyer

By RG Cruz
ABS-CBN News
MANILA – Election lawyer Romulo Macalintal shot down insinuations of fraud with the discovery of an alleged pattern in the votes cast for senator in the just concluded mid-term election.
In a statement, Macalintal said: “In various decisions of the Supreme Court and House electoral tribunal, pattern voting is not indication of fraud or irregarities. The alleged ‘60-30-10’ pattern of voting in favor of administration senatorial bets is not sufficient ground nor legal or factual basis to question d results of d 2013 elections.’
The election lawyer said proof of fraud must be presented to boost the claim.
“Precinct count optical scan (PCOS) critics should come up with more convincing evidence like inaccurate PCOS count instead of mere speculative statistical data. If the result is 60-30-10 consistent in all areas then with more reason that the results were accurate. It would have been different if the counts were so inconsistent or radically different in various areas,” he said.
On Wednesday, Commission on Elections Chairman Sixto Brillantes said the poll body’s information technology department was looking into claims over social media about the supposed pattern.
In a Facebook status on May 19, Ateneo professor Lex Muga noted what he called an “an interesting pattern” in the results of the just concluded May 13 senatorial election.
“How about adding the votes of the 33 senatorial candidates? Then add all the votes of the 12 Team PNoy candidates? Also, the 9 UNA candidates? And the 12 other candidates? Then find the percentages of each of the 3 blocks based on the total votes for senators. Do these to each of the 16 official Comelec canvass reports and we have a smooth and interesting pattern,” he noted.
Team PNoyUNAINDEPENDENTS
16th Canvass59.63%30.82%9.56%
15th Canvass59.61%30.82%9.57%
14th Canvass59.57%30.85%9.58%
13th Canvass59.59%30.81%9.61%
12th Canvass59.65%30.77%9.58%
11th Canvass59.58%30.83%9.59%
10th Canvass59.57%31.02%9.41%
9th Canvass59.42%30.98%9.60%
8th Canvass59.20%31.19%9.61%
7th Canvass58.94%31.43%9.63%
6th Canvass59.06%31.19%9.75%
5th Canvass58.77%31.40%9.83%
4th Canvass58.62%31.21%10.17%
3rd Canvass58.41%31.17%10.42%
2nd Canvass58.07%32.23%9.70%
1st Canvass58.36%31.47%10.17%
Average:59.13%31.14%9.74%
Muga, however, has not made any claims of fraud. Muga’s post has since made the rounds of social media.

No comments: