A BLACK box is to an airplane as an audit log is to a vote-counting machines. If this is a question in an IQ test, then your answer should be “yes.”
International aviation regulations require all commercial airplanes to be equipped with black boxes. A black box is actually composed of two units — the flight data recorder (FDR) and the cockpit voice recorder (CVR). The FDR records the history of the flight by collecting dozens of parameters per second about the flight. Meanwhile, the CVR preserves the history of sounds in the cockpit, including the conversations between the pilots and the control center.
In the event of an air crash, investigators go to the black box to analyze and reconstruct the events prior to the crash. The black box is almost indestructible, even in extreme conditions.
On the other hand, the vote counting machines (VCM) that we used during the previous elections have SD cards (secure digital card) that serves as its storage media. The SD card contains several files including an audit log. The audit log, just like the black box, stores a blow-by-blow account of what happened to the VCMs during its powered-on state.
Ballot sequence numbers
When the paper ballots are fed to the VCM, it scans the ballot and records the digital image of the ballot in the SD card. The recorded images is then assigned a “sequence number.” When everything is normal, meaning there was no tampering, the numbers will start from “001,” then “002” and so on until the number corresponding to the last ballot cast. For example, if there were 250 valid ballots cast, then the sequence number will be from “001” until “250.” No more, no less.
When the paper ballots are fed to the VCM, it scans the ballot and records the digital image of the ballot in the SD card. The recorded images is then assigned a “sequence number.” When everything is normal, meaning there was no tampering, the numbers will start from “001,” then “002” and so on until the number corresponding to the last ballot cast. For example, if there were 250 valid ballots cast, then the sequence number will be from “001” until “250.” No more, no less.
However, in some of the audit logs that were decrypted from “authentic” SD cards, there was an unusual phenomenon observed pertaining to sequence numbers.
In some precincts, the numbers were not continuous and sequential. There were “gaps” in the sequence and additional ballots were added in the end to fill the number of gaps. Using our example of 250 valid votes cast, the sequence numbers might be like this – “001” until “100,” then “151” to “250,” then “251” to “300.” Thus, there is a missing sequence from “101” to “150,” totaling 50 ballots. At the end of the normal sequence, supposedly at “250,” sequence numbers “251” to “300” were appended to compensate for the missing 50 ballots.
The total number of valid ballots cast would still be 250. No more, no less. However, the “mysterious” 50 ballots at the end tell a different story.
Jumpers and some real decrypted data
The word “jumpers” was coined by an election advocate to refer to the mysterious phenomenon of missing ballot sequence numbers. In my opinion, the word “jumpers” should refer to the additional ballots. In our example above, the sequence number “jumped” from “101” to “150.” The additional 50 ballots, included to compensate for the missing 50 ballots, are then called “jumpers.”
The word “jumpers” was coined by an election advocate to refer to the mysterious phenomenon of missing ballot sequence numbers. In my opinion, the word “jumpers” should refer to the additional ballots. In our example above, the sequence number “jumped” from “101” to “150.” The additional 50 ballots, included to compensate for the missing 50 ballots, are then called “jumpers.”
Let us look at how these jumpers affected the votes. The figures that are cited below are all for the Vice President position. I did not bother tallying the votes for the other positions.
Here is a sampling of the manual tallies made from the decrypted ballot images vis-à-vis the sequence numbers in the audit logs:
1. For clustered precinct number 17240001 in Naga City, the jumpers gave Leni Robredo 145 votes while Bongbong Marcos got only 8 votes.
2. For clustered precinct number 17080056 in the municipality of Calabanga, these jumpers credited Leni Robredo with 135 votes while Bongbong Marcos received 5 votes only.
3. For clustered precinct number 17040001 in the municipality of Bombon, Robredo obtained 81 votes while Marcos got only 4 votes from the jumpers.
4. For clustered precinct number 17090017 in the municipality of Camaligan, Robredo had 56 votes while Marcos had 3 votes only, due to jumpers.
5. For clustered precinct number 17250037 in the municipality of Ocampo, the jumpers produced 58 votes for Robredo and zero vote for Marcos.
6. For clustered precinct number 17280010 in the municipality of Pili, Robredo secured from the jumpers some 97 votes, with only 7 votes for Marcos.
In Magarao, one clustered precinct registered 122 for Robredo and only 6 for Marcos. In Canaman, a clustered precinct secured 80 votes for Robredo as against only 4 votes for Marcos. These figures and tallies are from jumpers only, excluding those that are from the “regularly” sequenced ballot images.
For a hotly contested position like the vice presidency, the votes should at least be neck-and-neck, so to speak. However, in this unusual and mysterious “jumping” ballot sequence numbers, it seemed that it was all in favor of Robredo.
Black boxes are virtually indestructible and incorruptible. Conversely, audit logs from the VCMs can be replaced, erased, or even modified.
Going back to our opening IQ question — a black box is to an airplane as an audit log is to a vote counting machines. The answer is now “no.”
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