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Sen. Richard Gordon filed Senate Resolution 567 Thursday urging the
Commission on Elections (Comelec) to start preparing for the full
automation of the 2010 elections.
Gordon, author of the amended Automated Elections
Law, made the call after declaring the automated election at the
Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) “a success.”
“The exercise was orderly and generally
peaceful. The voters were excited to try high-tech equipment and the
teachers were happy too since the voting process was quick,” he
said.
He also cited the high voter turnout of 84
percent even if there were threats of violence from secessionists.
“Although there were some minor problems in
the automated system at the ARMM election, the Comelec could fine
tune these now for a smooth nationwide automated elections in two
years’ time,” he said.
He believes that the counting of votes and
transmission of results should be faster. He said the problem of
flying voters could not be detected by the machines, but he is
hopeful that with biometrics, this could be eliminated in the 2010
presidential elections. He added that this would entail a bigger
budget outlay and a review of the voters’ list.
Gordon said that with the fine-tuning of the
automated system of election, there would be fewer questions on the
election results and the faith of the people in elections would be
restored.
“This could also attract more qualified people
to run for public office,” he said.
The ARMM election used the Optical Mark Reader
and the Direct Recording Electronic systems. Gordon said he preferred
the direct recording where only the voter holds the ballot.
In direct recording, after casting a vote, the
voter will wait for the ballot to be printed before placing it
inside the ballot box. The ballot box will only be opened if a
recount of votes is needed.
Under the optical system, the ballot is handed
over to the voter, who casts his vote and places it inside the
ballot box, which will be opened during the canvassing of votes.
-- Efren L. Danao
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