Counting machines in place for May 12 polls

THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) has finished deploying the more than 100,000 automated counting machines (ACMs) for the May 12 national and local elections.

Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia said on Sunday every machine will undergo "final testing and sealing" to ensure that they will function accurately and efficiently.

Garcia said the members of the electoral boards will check each machine to determine if it reads correctly, accepts the ballots and the number of ballots tested accurately matches the manual testing.

The Comelec has set aside 10 ballots for every ACM for testing, using original ballots and registered voters.

After the ballots are cast, they will be counted manually and compared to the results that came out from the ACM.

After testing and sealing, the ACM will be deposited for safekeeping at the Office of the Department of Education Supervisor Official (DESO) until May 12.

The commission has leased 110,000 ACMs for P17.9 billion from Miru Systems of South Korea.

Garcia said only 104,000 ACMs would be used on a one-machine-per-precinct basis.

The remaining 6,000 machines would be on standby to replace those that would break down on election day.

Before their distribution, each ACM also underwent hardware, lab, stress and several other tests in accordance with the term of reference signed with Miru Systems.

Garcia said technicians would be on standby in every precinct to repair problems on SD cards or the machine itself or to bring a machine to the nearest repair hub.

Garcia said Miru Systems will put up 110 repair hubs across the country on election day, or one or more for each of the 77 provinces.