BAGUIO CITY, Jan. 13 (PIA) – – The new sets of vote counting machines for the 2016 election are undergoing extensive testing .in time for a voters education roadshow in major cities nationwide.
Commission on Election Commissioner Louie Tito Guia bared that since October last year, Comelec along with representatives from various political parties and non-government organizations have been reviewing and testing the new vote counting machines. This will go on for seven months to ensure that the machines will function efficiently properly from counting to transmission.
“To make the election more transparent, we have been engaging various stakeholders from the source code review – basic program or code that will be telling the machines what to do; the loading of names of candidates to align it to the election management system up to the customizing of the code to make sure the machines are configured to count the way it should”, Guia stressed.
After the testing and review, Comelec will go to various parts of the country for a voters education roadshow on the vote counting machines.
‘We will be more active in engaging the public and the media for an information and education about the system. What we want to happen is for the public to actively engage and involve in the process’, Guia said.
He disclosed that there are over 95,000 new vote counting machines that can cover all the voting precincts in the country plus reserves for contingency measure. He assured that these machines are newer version and with added features compared to those used in the last automated election.
Guia was in the city last week for the launching of the Comelec – Baguio initiated Voter Care Center, the first specialized telephone hotline and action desk set –up for the May 9, 2016 election./JDP/CCD – PIA CAR
