(Photo courtesy of the official Twitter account of Comelec)
MANILA—The Commission on Election (Comelec) will hold a mock election tomorrow, February 13 (GMT+8) in 20 key locations nationwide to enhance the voting procedures for an orderly May 9 election, said Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista.
With 25,000 participants, the mock poll seeks to ensure the security and validity of the vote-counting machines (VCMs) and the whole voting process, from assessing VCMs functionality to ensuring accuracy in vote canvassing.
February 13 mock election will be held in the following areas: Centro 1 (Poblacion) and Paddaya in Appari; Poblacion and Linmasangan in Alaminos, Pangasinan; Mabolo and Lusaran in Cebu City; Poblacion and Cabutongan in Santander, Cebu; Poblacion Oeste and Pugaro In Dagupan City; Barangay Central (Poblacion) and Sinaman in Dipolog City; Dadiangan East and San Jose in General Santos City; San Raymundo and Tulay in Jolo, Sulu; Poblacion and Linabuan in Kalibo, Aklan; Malinis and Parangbagsak in Lamitan City, Basilan; Cabutongan in Malay; Barangays 669 and 649 in Manila City; Camcaman (Poblacion) and Calintaan) in Matnog; Poblacion and Aguho in Pateros; Bagong Pag-asa and San Isidro in Quezon City; Poblacion and Tinaplan in Sindangan; Poblacion and Osiao in Sorsogon City; Libertad and Canahay (Godwino) in Surallah; Tuktukan and Western Bicutan in Taguig City; and Centro 1 (Poblacion) and Nambalan Norte in Tuguegarao City.
“Through these mock elections, we can see which aspects of the elections need to be enhanced, corrected or improved so that on May 9, we can have a smooth and orderly election,” Chairman Bautista was quoted as saying in a Philippine Star report.
According to Mike Santos of SLI Global Solutions, one to two percent of the ballots were rejected by VCMs in a ballot verification test which might have been caused by a glitch in source code.
Comelec argued that these errors were caused by an “overly sensitive self-diagnosing mechanism” of the VCMs.
“The problems have been contained. It is good that we discover these things now than later when we could no longer correct or improve them,” Bautista said in the same report.