Courtesy of Philstar.com

The issue on the automation of the 2010 national elections have reverted all ears as it creates noise. Billions of pesos will be spent for a strategy that is not proven to eliminate the problem of elections, and so, a test is about to be done.

Opposition Senator Allan Peter Cayetano said in a press conference that he is filling a resolution for COMELEC (Commission on Elections) to appropriate an amount of 100 million pesos out of the 11 billion pesos fund on the automation of elections as a reward for anyone who can show and convince the people that the automated elections is also susceptible to dirty tactics such as fraud and tampering of election paraphernalia. If this goes through (the resolution), this will be a test to the automation process’s invulnerability and probably will make the fear of people for any untoward act regarding the elections vanish.

This is why the Commission on Elections (Comelec) challenged hackers to try to hack into the voting and counting machines that will be used in next year’s elections, but expressed confidence that they would fail.

Comelec executive director Jose Tolentino said they are very confident the security features of the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines would be able to thwart hackers.

“Even in the first level, we can already detect any tampering,” noted Tolentino, who is also the project manager of poll automation.

“After that, we’ll know if the machines are accurate… The parties will then sign a document to certify that the machines are accurate,” Tolentino added.

The election process is one of those processes that should not be taken with risks for it would determine the future of our country. I for one would like to contribute by saying that I am also a computer enthusiast with knowledge about hacking and I will try my best to penetrate and hack the system to prove whether the automation process will be a success or yet again, another failure. So to all the hackers there, I urge you to try and give it your best shot to prove yourself as hackers. You might just got lucky and take the 100 million pesos reward plus the bonus of helping your own country.