The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) assures the public of reliable and secured election services in the 2025 national and local polls through the use of Miru Systems’ automated counting machine (ACM).
In the Commission’s information drive on Thursday, August 15, Chairman George Garcia said that all 110,000 ACMs from its new provider, Miru Systems, are all new and no longer need to be cooled by electric fans as experienced in previous automated elections.
COMELEC expects all rented machines to be delivered to the Philippines by December.
“Ngayon ay sinisiguro ng COMELEC na ang 110,000 ay bago at ‘di na gagamitan ng electric fan, ‘di papaypayan,” he said during the ACM campaign in Puerto Princesa.
Out of 110,000 machines rented, only 104,000 will be used, while the remaining 6,000 machines will be on standby. Instead of one demo machine per region, COMELEC will deploy one machine per city or town before the 2025 elections.
The Commission also assured that all demo machines passed the hardware acceptance test (HAT) conducted in its warehouse in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, to see if it matches the specification provided in terms of reference.
The city officials, led by Mayor Lucilo Bayron, participated in the mock voting to see how the machine would cast their votes. COMELEC also demonstrated the machine to barangay officials, police officials, students, and members of various sectors.
Miru Systems’ ACM features
Unlike the machines provided by Smartmatic, Garcia said that the new features of Miru Systems’ ACMs will ensure the privacy and transparency of votes. As demonstrated by COMELEC, the Miru’s machines can eat a ballot paper at a rate of 220 millimeters per second, faster than the Smartmatic’s machines with a rate of 70 millimeters per second.
The 2025 midterm polls will use 90 grams per square (GSM) paper, which is thinner than the 162 GSM in 2022. The screen will summarize the names of candidates chosen by the voter. The voter receipts will have a QR code that can be scanned by machines’ built-in cameras.
The lithium batteries of ACMs will last up to three days and it is needed to be shipped to areas, as these are not allowed in planes.
From the precinct, the result will be transmitted by the machine simultaneously to the board of canvassers, Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL) majority and minority parties, and media. The COMELEC has no fear of hacking, as machines are not connected to any lines of transmission before the printing of election returns.
All pictures of ballots fed in the machine will be shown to all watchers and observers which they can also capture or record in a video to check if the cast votes printed in election returns and transmitted match.
“Diyan ay masasagot namin ‘yong tanong na nabilang ba ang boto ko kasi noon ay walang ganong feature. Iyan ay nilagay talaga natin para siguraduhin na wala ng duda kung ang makina ay bumibilang ng tama,” Garcia said.
Garcia said that the problems anticipated to occur during the elections are irregularities outside the machine such as violence, terrorism, and vote-buying.
Register for the elections
Aside from the demonstration of the new machine, COMELEC also urges the public in its visit to Puerto Princesa to register themselves before September 30.
Garcia said the commission has no intention to provide an extension for the registration of voters.
COMELEC projects 70 million registered voters by 2025. However, it has discovered 5.2 million deactivated voters out of the current number of 66 million voters in the country.
“Yong 5.2 million o 61,000 ng Puerto Princesa na deactivated, hindi niyo kinakailangan na pumunta sa local COMELEC offices, pwede ang online reactivation, dahil meron silang biometrics. Bubuhayin lang nila ang kanilang registration — may posibilidad na ang 5.2 million ay may mga patay na,” he said. (RG/PIA MIMAROPA-Palawan)
