Comelec to decide voting machine contract with lone bidder this week

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Wednesday said it will decide this week if it will award the vote counting machines contract for the 2025 polls to the lone bidder South Korean firm Miru Systems.

“Malalaman ninyo po within this week kung ibibigay namin yung award sa nag-iisang bidder na ito base sa ginawang technical evaluation, post-qualification, and such other issues pertaining to this company,” Comelec chairperson George Garcia said at a press conference.

(You will know within this week if we will give the award to this lone bidder based on the technical evaluation, post-qualification, and such other issues pertaining to this company.)

Garcia made the statement right after Miru’s demonstration.

According to Garcia, Comelec’s special bids and awards committee (SBAC) will make recommendations on the possible awarding of the contract to Miru.

The Comelec en banc will decide if they will adopt the SBAC’s recommendations.

If ever the contract is awarded to Miru, Garcia said they will proceed with the contract negotiations. But if it is not awarded to Miru, there will be a negotiated bidding, in which another contractor will be selected.

The Comelec is planning to lease 110,000 voting machines with a budget of P155,000 per machine, including peripherals like ballot boxes, laptops, pens, among others.

Garcia said Miru offers its machine for around P149,000 each.

Comelec Commissioner Marlon Casquejo said the voting machines will be customized based on the wishlist of the poll body.

“This machine is ours, sa Comelec talaga ito. Kami ang gumawa ng [terms of reference], kami ang gumawa ng mga wishlist namin. Sila ang sumunod. So if you noticed, this is customized machine which wala pang production nito,” Casquejo said

(This machine is ours, it really belongs to the Comelec. We made the [terms of reference] and our wishlists. Miru just followed. So if you noticed, this is a customized machine which has not yet been produced.)

Earlier, lawmakers, election watchdogs, and other groups called on the Comelec to stay vigilant considering the lone bidder’s past controversies.

But, Miru Systems maintained that allegations of election failures due to its technology are false.

“The company designs, develops, and manufactures secure electoral systems that are of international standard,” Miru said. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News