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The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said the upcoming polls in the
Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) will decide which type
of machine will be used in the 2010 presidential elections.
Comelec spokesman James Arthur Jimenez said in
the weekly forum Kapihan sa Manila that the ARMM elections would
decide whether the optical mark readers (OMRs) or direct recording
electronics system (DRES) will be used in the 2010 elections. The
elections in Muslim Mindanao will be held on August 11.
“We are 90 to 95 percent ready in the
ARMM elections. We are now in the process of placing these computers
on their designated voting areas. On the last week of July we will
be running mock elections to test our computers. As far as the
readiness of the systems, we are ready for the elections,” he
said.
There would be 2,200 DRES using touch screens
that will be placed in Maguindanao, while 156 OMRs will be used in
Shariff Kabunsuan, Lanao, Sulu, Tawi-tawi and Basilan.
Jimenez assured ARMM voters that there would be
no “automated cheating” that would happen in August 11 polls.
Although it may not solve the entire problem of election fraud, the
automated system will surely address the serious concern of vote
shaving or dagdag-bawas, because there will be no manual counting
and canvassing of votes.
The two companies that will provide the poll
machineries are Smartmatic Sahi for the touch screens and Avante for
the OMRs. Both confirmed that there would be no human intervention
in the most crucial parts of the voting system.
The poll body also launched the official website
for the ARMM automated polls, www.armm2008.com.ph.
-- Ruben Manahan 4th
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