THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) will reevaluate the almost 100,000 vote counting machines (VCMs) used in the last three elections to determine if these could be used in future polls.

Acting Comelec Commissioner Socorro Inting, in a recent virtual forum hosted by Stratbase ADR Institute, said that she wanted a "meticulous" review of the status of the VCMs, which by technology standards, were already deemed obsolete.

"I think everyone will agree to a meticulous discussion and review of the propriety of using these VCMS in future elections," said Inting.

Comelec spokesman John Rex Laudiangco, in his presentation at the same forum, said that during the May 9 elections, 108,445 VMCs were deployed nationwide. Of these, 97,345 were owned by the poll body and 11,100 were leased from technology provider, Smartmatic Corp.

Laudiangco also reported that 1,295 VCMs malfunctioned on the day of the elections, far lower than the 2,256 defective units in the 2019 elections.

The Comelec-owned machines were bought from technology provider Smartmatic Corp. in 2013 and were subsequently used during the 2016, 2019 and 2022 local and national elections.

Senior Comelec Commissioner Marlon Casquejo, chairman of the commission's steering committee for 2022 elections, had said that he would recommend to the commission en banc to include in its budget a proposal to Congress the purchase of new VCMs for the 2025 midterm elections.

Casquejo said the VCMs were already beyond its useful life span of five years and by technology standards were already considered obsolete. But he also admitted that a new machine is not a guarantee that it would not malfunction.

But the old VCMs, he pointed out, could still be used in plebiscites that require only a "yes" or "no" answer.