A.M. No. P-17-3652 - Begay vs. Saguyod

In 1997, Republic Act No. 8436 authorized the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) to adopt an automated election system (AES) using appropriate technology for voting and electronic devices to count votes and canvass results.
In 2007, Republic Act No. 9369 amended RA No. 8436 to permit the COMELEC to use a paper-based or direct recording electronic system and to prescribe minimum system capabilities, including *voter verified paper audit trail* (VVPAT) and authentication of electronically transmitted results (Sec. 6; Sec. 30).
The COMELEC implemented paper-based AES using optical mark reader machines in the 2010, 2013, 2016, and 2019 National Elections, specifically the PCOS machines (2010, 2013) and VCMs (2016, 2019).
Electoral board members were assigned iButton security keys and personal identification numbers (PINs) used to initiate and close voting machines for printing and transmitting results.

In Capalla v. COMELEC, petitioners questioned the absence of digital signatures on 2010 election results; the Court held that PCOS machines could produce digitally signed transmissions.
In Bagumbayan-VNP Movement, Inc. v. COMELEC, the Court ruled that the statutory minimum system capabilities are mandatory and that VVPAT is distinct from the physical ballot.
The Bagumbayan Court ordered the COMELEC to enable the VCMs' vote verification feature that prints voters' receipts and permitted COMELEC guidelines regulating release and disposal of receipts.

Following Bagumbayan, COMELEC issued Resolution No. 10088 (2016) enabling VCMs' printing of voters' receipts and setting procedures, including a prohibition in Sec. 2 against voters' use of capturing devices "for whatever purpose" inside polling places.
For the 2019 elections COMELEC promulgated Resolution No. 10460 which adopted Resolution No. 10088 procedures with modification deleting the phrase "for whatever purpose" in the prohibition on capturing devices.
COMELEC also issued Resolution Nos. 10458 and 10525 prescribing procedures for Random Manual Audit (RMA) and selection of clustered precincts for audit.

On April 24, 2019, AES-WATCH, et al. filed a petition for mandamus to (a) compel COMELEC to review the VVPAT for auditability; (b) employ another method of digitally signing election results; and (c) remove the prohibition on capturing devices inside polling places.
AES-WATCH, et al. proposed a "camerambola" method whereby voters verify VVPATs, deposit receipts into a box to anonymize them, and volunteers photograph receipts inside the precinct to create an audit trail.
United Filipino Consumers & Commuters (UFCC), Froilan M. Dollente, and Teofilo T. Parilla moved to...(Subscriber-Only)

Whether AES-WATCH, et al., Bagumbayan VNP Movement, Inc., and United Filipino Consumers & Commuters (UFCC), Froilan M. Dollente, and Teofilo T. Parilla have legal standing to seek mandamus relief challenging COMELEC actions in the 2019 elections.
Whether the petition is rendered moot and academic by the conclusion of the 2019 National Elections.

Whether mandamus will lie to compel COMELEC to adopt the proposed "camerambola" audit procedure or other measures to enhance VVPAT auditability.
Whether COMELEC unlawfully failed to comply with the VVPAT requirement as interpreted in Bagumbayan.
Whether COMELEC's prohibition on the use of capturing devices inside the polling place is unconstitutional or inconsistent with Section 179 of the Omnibus Election Code.
Whether the use of iButtons and PINs by electoral board ...(Subscriber-Only)