Automated elections, another legacy of the Arroyo administration
MANILA,
March 9 (PNA) -- One of the legacies of the Arroyo administration when
she steps down this June would be the automated process of the May 10,
2010 national and local elections.
RA 8436 or the Election Automation Act of 1997 was passed to
give the Commission on Elections (Comelec) authority to use automated
election system for vote counting and canvassing in the scheduled polls.
The law will provide for the generation of a national
computerized voters list, establish a voters identification card system
and the automation of the vote counting.
However, the law was amended by Republic Act No. 9369, or
the Amended Automated Elections Law, which prescribes full automation of
the country’s electoral exercise.
The automation law was supposed to be implemented in the May
2007 elections but the Comelec had to postpone it citing lack of time
for preparations.
A partial automation was conducted in 2007, modernizing the
registration and vote counting process of the Autonomous Region in
Muslin Mindanao (ARMM).
Two machines were used in the elections -- the Direct
Recording Electronic (DRE) which was utilized in Maguindanao and the
Optical Mark Reader (OMR) which was used in Shariff Kabunsuan, Sulu,
Lanao del Sur, Tawi-tawi and Basilan.
The OMR technology calls for voters to mark or shade the
ballot while the machine will read it for counting and transmittal of
the results. On the other hand, the DRE is a touch screen equipment
displaying the picture and names of the candidate in the computer.
The Comelec, meanwhile, said they cannot afford to lease
both technology for the May 2010 polls, that is why they decided to use a
modern version of the OMR, which is now known as the Precinct Count
Optical Scan (PCOS) machines.
Comelec Chairman Jose Melo said the use of the new
technology will reduce cases of fraud and cheating. It likewise lessens
election complaints since the system will be fast and accurate.
The PCOS is a ballot-based system wherein voters will mark
his/her choices on a ballot that features security markings. The ballot
will be fed into the machines, which records and stores the votes.
After a rigorous bidding process, Smartmatic-Total
Information Management (TIM) won the process by giving the least price
at P7.2 billion for the supply of 82,200 PCOS.
Smartmatic is based in Netherlands with branches in the
United States, Mexico, Venezuela, Barbados, Spain, Taiwan and the
Philippines .
The TIM, on the other hand, is a Filipino solutions company
established in 1985 with banks and the Land Transportation Office as its
major clients.
On February 27, the last batch of the machines arrived in
the country, beating the deadline set by the poll body by one day.
The poll body has started printing the ballots in early
February, with the more than two million ARMM ballots first in line. The
ARMM ballots are two inches longer for having Arabic translation
The printing of the 25-inch ballots for the rest of the
country has started two weeks ago. It is expected to be completed on
April 25.
The country has 50,234,273 registered voters. (PNA)
DCT/FGP
|
