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AFTER a
very significant 84-percent turnout in elections in the
Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), Commission
on Elections chairman Jose Armando Melo is confident
about replicating the automated election in 2010.
“Tuloy
tuloy na ’to. No more stopping, onward to 2010!”
Melo exclaimed in a press conference on Tuesday.
It will
be a lot easier and convenient for voters, he added, to
register, since they will use the biometrics system that
reduces opportunities for fraud during election periods
arising from complicated lists of voters.
Melo
said the poll body can definitely set aside a budget for
the biometrics system worth P10 million. “We can ask the
Congress for the budget,” Melo said.
Moreover, the automated election system is in accordance
with Section 1 of Comelec Resolution 7463, mandating a
policy to establish a clean, complete, permanent and
updated list of voters through the adoption of
biometrics technology in the registration process.
Biometrics technology is the electronic recording of the
photograph, signature and right thumb mark of an
applicant for registration using special digital
equipment.
With
this process, when a certain voter has registered
through his thumb mark, verification during elections
with the National List of Registered Voters (NLRV) that
is installed in the computer will provide a reference
point for tracing a person’s address. The machine can
also tell the number of persons with the same first and
family names and address.
Melo
explained that the database of voters who registered
during the 2004 elections is already installed in the
computer for the biometrics system. “Right now we have
50 percent on our database, but I am not sure about the
time frame, or how long it will take to input all the
voters’ information,” he added.
“It’s up
to the advisory council [to decide] what system provider
we will use [direct recording electronic or DRE and
optical mark reader or OMR], both used in this week’s
ARMM election) because we have to study the glitches and
the cost of the system. The system will be great to use
for 2010 election, but if we can’t afford it, it’s
another problem,” Melo said. He also held out the
possibility that the Comelec may use a combination of OMR
and DRE.
Automated voting machines: A big hit among Maguindanao
voters
Despite
the continuing hostilities between the Moro Islamic
Liberation Front (MILF) and the military in North
Cotabato, the Comelec said a significant number of
Maguindanao voters trooped to the polling centers to
exercise their right to vote.
Comelec
spokesman James Jimenez said Monday’s ARMM polls is an
important milestone in election reform in the country,
with voters showing enthusiasm in using automated voting
machines amid security problems.
“We have
seen the long queues of voters eagerly waiting for their
turn to vote using the electronic voting machines,”
Jimenez said.
Vince
Dizon of Smartmatic-Sahi Technology Inc. said the
computer glitches encountered in some precincts should
not be considered a major problem because their
field-support technicians assigned in each precinct were
quick to resolve those problems.
Despite
some isolated cases of computer glitches, the voters who
experienced using the automated voting machines were
satisfied, saying that it was more convenient and easier
to use than the manual voting. |
