Smartmatic banned from ‘all Comelec procurement’ – Garcia

THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Wednesday banned Smartmatic from all procurement activities of the poll body, Chairman George Garcia said.

”We disqualified Smartmatic to participate in all Comelec procurement,” Garcia said on X, formerly Twitter.

”We have to maintain the integrity of our electoral process. Para sa Bayan,” he added. 

Garcia did not say why Smartmatic was disqualified, although there is a petition filed by the group of former information and communications technology chief, Eliseo Rio Jr., alleging irregularities in the 2022 elections.

They said Smartmatic “failed to comply with certain minimum system capabilities that resulted in serious and grave irregularities in the transmission and receipt of election returns” during the 2022 polls.

Smartmatic has dismissed the group’s claims as ”unfounded.”

In a statement, Smartmatic expressed ”disappointment in the decision” by the Comelec.

”In its 23-year history, no Smartmatic company has ever been indicted in the United States or any other country in connection with any election or election-related contract,” Smartmatic said.

”Óver the course of 15 years, as we contributed technology and services to Comelec, we have consistently adhered to all their procurement processes during bidding and contract execution. Our significant role has played a key part in establishing the Philippines as a global model for election integrity,” it added. 

Smartmatic has been Comelec’s poll technology provider since 2010, when the Philippines held its first fully automated elections.