Author: Melissa Luz Lopez, CNN Philippines
Station Laguna Rosa (CNN Philippines, September 14)-The Election Commission stated on Tuesday that when these ticket counters are used in the May 2022 polls, approximately 97,345 VCMs will be “intact like New".
The VCM is being cleaned, and parts and batteries are being upgraded 8 months before the presidential election.
Comelec Commissioner Marlon Casquejo said that the new VCM should still be considered in subsequent polls.
"Sana ito na'yung last kasi is a 9-year-old machine, this year is coming 2022, although we have refurbished it. Siguro after 2022, there may be elections, baka meron na tayong Internet voting or DRE, direct-recording electronics (voting machine)," Casquejo said at a press conference at the Comelec warehouse in Laguna.
[Translation: I hope this is the last time we use it, because it is nine years old in 2022, even though we have refurbished it. Maybe after 2022, we will have a new technology for conducting elections, maybe we will have Internet voting or DRE, that is, direct recording electronic voting machines. ]
Read: Despite the connection problem, the results of the online voting trial are "promising"-Comelec
The polling agency spent about 12 billion pesos to refurbish parts and upgrade the VCM software, and the original plan was to spend 12 billion pesos to buy new machines.
Comelec Chairman Sheriff Abas stated that 36,239 or about one-third of existing VCMs had completed the refurbishment process before the November deadline. Casquejo pointed out that 5,000 devices were found to be defective.
Smartmatic, which sold the machine to Comelec, was responsible for the maintenance work in the compound. From dust removal, parts inspection, battery replacement to initial test run, the entire process takes half an hour to complete.
The failed unit will be evaluated for further repair, and the unit that passed the diagnostic test will be repackaged in a new box and returned to the main warehouse.
The polling agency stated that it is still implementing a plan to lease more than 10,000 VCMs to ease congestion in the voting area. The first bid last week failed because the company thought Comelec's highest price was too cheap and no one accepted it.
"We will continue with the second tender and we will try to increase the ABC (approved budget contract) kasi kakayanin pa naman ng budget namin (because our budget can still accommodate this)," Casquejo added, noting the next time The November target of the tender.
The additional VCM must be delivered before January or February so that Comelec has time to equip the machine with automatic election software. If this fails, Comelec will be forced to allocate 1,000 voters for each machine and constituency.
The polling agency also clarified that the old Precinct Count Optical Scanner or PCOS machine cannot be reused due to its outdated components.
Due to existing isolation restrictions, the source code review to check the integrity of the automated election system platform has been postponed to October. Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said that if the strict lockdown continues, preparations are being made for a virtual source code audit.
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