Comelec shifts OMR production over China sabotage fears

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has directed Smartmatic-TIM to move the manufacturing of voting machines from China to Taiwan after it reportedly received intelligence reports that Beijing might attempt to sabotage the 2016 elections.

This was revealed to Congress on Wednesday by Commissioner Robert Lim, who said the Comelec en banc has made the transfer of the factory producing the 93,000 Optical Mark Readers (OMRs) “non-negotiable” for Smartmatic-TIM because they are concerned that an ongoing arbitration case between China and the Philippines may have an effect on the national polls next year.