Comelec turns over Eleksyon 2022 transmission router source code to BSP

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) turned over the source code for the transmission router for Eleksyon 2022 to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) for escrow.

Comelec Chairperson Saidamen Pangarungan personally handed over the sealed box containing the source code to Bangko Sentral Governor Benjamin Diokno.

This transmission router is a critical software responsible for managing the flow of information from vote-counting machines (VCMs) and the consolidation and canvassing system (CCS).

The source code, which contains human-readable instructions for machine operation, will be placed inside a vault in the BSP.

Comelec officials exclusively hold the keys and combination codes to the BSP vault, ensuring the source codes can only be accessed for investigations into poll irregularities.

This safekeeping measure adheres to the amended poll automation law, aiming to preserve an untampered copy of the source codes.

The Comelec previously deposited thumb drives containing the final election software source code for the automated polls and source codes for the election management system, consolidation and canvassing system, and vote counting machines to the BSP.

Comelec Commissioner Marlon Casquejo confirmed that the transmission router has been tested and passed all necessary modifications in their data centers.

All source codes used for automated elections since 2010 are with the BSP.

The source code turned over on Monday is for the transmission of the results of the voting on Election Day, and was checked to ensure the system will not be overwhelmed, unlike in 2019 when a seven-hour delay occurred due to system overload.