The automation supplier in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) poll last year is poised to bag the contract for the May 2010 polls, in spite of the last-minute competition foisted by the joint venture of AMA Group of Companies and Election System and Software (AMA/ES&S).

The group of Smartmatic and Total Information Management Corp. (Smartmatic/TIM) was the only vendor that initially passed the eligibility and the legal, technical and financial screening of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) Special Bids and Awards Committee (SBAC), out of the seven that submitted their bid proposals.

It submitted a P7.2 billion financial bid to automate the national polls next year, which is P4 billion lower than the P11.3 billion ceiling set by Comelec.

Smartmatic/TIM is now awaiting the Comelec’s go signal for the end-to-end demonstration of its machines.

Stiff challenge

But the group is now facing a stiff challenge from AMA/ES&S after the latter hurdled the eligibility, legal and technical screening of the SBAC. AMA/ES&S was given a new lease after the SBAC reconsidered its earlier position to disqualify them.

The AMA/ES&S consortium was earlier struck out of the bid after it failed to submit the certificate of acceptance pertaining to its previous automation projects in the states of Michigan and Minnesota. The group, however, argued that the two states do not usually issue certificate of acceptance “which were atypical in their jurisdiction.”

What the AMA/ES&S submitted were the end-user acceptance statements of the two states. The SBAC later ruled that the submission of the end-user acceptance statements constituted sufficient compliance with the paper requirement.

The final test for AMA/ES&S is whether it could match or outflank Smartmatic/TIM with a lower bid. Since AMA/ES&S's financial bid has yet to be opened, Smartmatic/TIM on record has the lowest calculated bid.

Can't outbid?

Asked if its financial bid could compare with Smartmatic/TIM’s offer, an official of AMA/ES&S hinted that it might not be able to outbid Smartmatic on the financial aspect.

Smartmatic/TIM’s "low" bid of P7.2 billion has surprised other bidders.
 
Since it has the lowest calculated bid, Smartmatic/TIM gets the first crack in demonstrating its machines that should satisfy a checklist of requirements, such as accuracy, security and power reserves among others.

If Smartmatic/TIM’s machines are able to deliver, then the post-qualification stage—the last level—will follow.

The post-qualification is the stage where the Comelec goes back to the eligibility requirements and determine whether the documents or claims submitted were true and factual.

If the group satisfies all these, the SBAC then makes a recommendation to the Comelec en banc for the awarding of the P11.3 billion automation contract.

Reliable machines

While it may not be able to match Smartmatic’s bid, the AMA/ES&S official said all is not yet lost since Smartmatic should be able to demonstrate that its bid “is not only the lowest calculated but also responsive” for the poll automation.

“When we say responsive, the machines should be able to deliver based on what the Comelec needs,” the AMA official said.

“If they succeed in demonstrating the reliability of the machines and pass the post qualification stage, then they could bag the contract outright,” without AMA/ES&S going through the same process, the AMA official acknowledged.

Smartmatic, with its previous partner Strategic Alliance Holdings Incorporated, supplied the Direct Recording Electronic technology in Maguindanao province during last year’s ARMM polls.