Comelec set to issue decision on the AES to use in the 2016 polls

Wikipedia Photo

MANILA — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is set to issue a decision regarding the Automated Election System (AES) it will use in the May 2016 national and local polls.

Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes said the commission en banc already has a decision on which AES will be utilized in the forthcoming electoral exercise.

“We already have a consensus. But we will not announce it yet because we will still meet in the en banc on Tuesday to formalize it into a resolution,” he said in an interview.

Earlier, the Comelec Advisory Council (CAC) had recommended to the poll body to “seriously consider the use of multiple or mixed technologies” for the 2016 polls.

Among the technologies the CAC recommended are other Optical Mark Reader (OMR) system and the Direct Recording Electronic (DRE), as secondary technology; as well as the Internet voting for Filipinos overseas.

The Comelec used the OMR system by acquiring the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines for the 2010 and 2013 polls.

The system was provided by Smartmatic International with 80,000 units at PHP 1.8 billion.