| Comelec
urges League to bring forth issues and concerns on poll automation
|
Gov.
Petilla raises a number of questions relative to the
Comelec’s poll automation program to Commissioner
Rene Sarmiento, foremost of them is the integrity of
the results of the elections with the using the Precinct
Count Optical machines. |
THE
Comelec is poised not to leave any stone unturned in its preparations
for the implementation of the automated poll program during
the May 10, 2010 national and local elections as it exhorted
the governors to raise all their issues and concerns relative
to the upcoming political exercise.
Commissioner Rene Sarmiento presented to the governors the
mechanics Comelec’s poll automation program, which will
be going through an acid test in the coming elections, after
having been initially rolled out during the ARMM regional
polls.
As some governors have manifested their support for the use
of modern technology for next year’s political exercise,
a number of them have expressed interest for their province
to be a site for the field testing, mock elections and the
roadshow which the Comelec will undertake in the next few
months.
Inasmuch as the contract to supply the Precinct Count Optical
Scan machines and its corresponding software to be used in
next year’s elections to Smartmatic/Total Information
Management, the Comelec is focused on the other preparations
such as registration of new voters, cleansing of the voter’s
list, automation and its cooperation with government offices
and NGOs.
Sarmiento assured the governors that “the Comelec is
not distracted by talks about charter change via constituent
assembly.”
Davao
del Sur Gov. Dodo Cagas said that a perennial problem being
confronted during every election is the presence of the assistors,
whose task to is help the illiterate voters cast their votes.
He suggested, in turn, that with the automation of the electoral
exercise, if the Comelec would consider putting the pictures
of the candidates in the ballots alongside their names in
order to dispense with the assistors.
Leyte
Gov. Carlos Jericho Petilla, who is also into the information
technology business, posed a number of questions to Sarmiento,
especially relative to the technologies which Comelec will
be using for the electoral exercise.
Of concern to the local chief executives would be the immediate
availability of the Comelec’s official sample ballots
after the deadline of the filing of certificates of candidacy
on November 30, the arrangement of names in the ballots, as
well as the number of names of candidates that can be accommodated
in a single ballot.
With Sarmiento assurance of the 99.9% accuracy of the PCOS
machines, Petilla noted that a candidate who wins with a margin
of less than 500 votes can still lose in the elections.
Petilla likewise expressed concern over who among the members
of the board of election inspectors can make the decision
to proceed with a manual counting in the worst scenario case
of a general power failure as well as loss of back-up battery
power of the equipment.
Sarmiento made an assurance that at least one member of the
BEI will be certified by the DOST to have be IT-capable and
have undergone the corresponding training on the use of the
PCOS machine. He added that in the remote possibility of a
manual counting, the local Comelec officer will make the decision.
Apart
from the poll automation, the governors also had their queries
relative to the biometric data capture for all the registered
voters, such as that raised by Gov. Mamintal Alonto-Adiong
as to when this will start, which according to Sarmiento has
already begun, with those in ARMM to resume next month.
Bataan
Gov. Tet Garcia likewise suggested if the provinces could
help the Comelec in this area by purchasing the computer needed
for the biometrics capture machines following an admission
from Sarmiento that the electoral body still lacks the sufficient
number of equipment.
Sarmiento, however, said there is no more need for the provinces
to provide for the computers since Congress has already allocated
funds for this project.
Given the number of suggestions and questions raised by the
governors, Sarmiento suggested for the League to pass a resolution
detailing the points raised so it can be taken up by the Comelec
in its deliberations.
League
president Gov. Loreto Leo S. Ocampos called for the organization
of an ad-hoc committee to study and integrate the comments
and suggestions relative to the poll automation so the same
can be forwarded to the Comelec for their consideration. (AJSanchez)
 |
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