(UPDATES) PANGYO, South Korea — With the innovations being put in place, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said Monday that voters in the 2025 midterm polls can look forward to a shorter time in the polling booth and be assured that their ballots will be counted quickly and accurately.
To prepare voters, the Comelec has embarked on an educational campaign on the use of the technology of Miru SystemsCo. Ltd., which showcased its voting system to visiting Comelec officials and members of the media at its factory here.
Led by Miru President Jinbok Chung and Vice President Ken Cho, the South Korean technology firm, which won the bid to provide the 110,000 automated counting machines (ACMs), presented an assembly line from its four-floor factory that began with its personnel putting together the parts of the ACM and ending with a quality assurance test where sample ballots are fed into finished units to make sure that there will only be one ballot per voter.
POLL PARTNERS Miru Systems Co. Ltd. President Jinbok Chung (left) and Commission on Elections Chairman George Erwin Garcia meet in South Korea where the technology firm conducted a tour of its factory for the poll officials and Philippine media on June 10, 2024. PHOTO BY LYNETTE O. LUNA
Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia, in a question and answer session after the demonstration, said it should take voters two to three minutes to cast their ballots, down from the previous seven to 10 minutes.
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He said the Miru system even has provisions to enable the deaf and blind to vote.
Earlier on Monday, Garcia said the Comelec would be introducing a QR (quick-response) code that would ensure the transparency, accuracy and consistency of the results. It would also retire the transparency server that had been used in past elections.
The new setup meant that the results would be transmitted directly to the stakeholders — the majority and minority parties, the poll watchdogs and other accredited entities in the 2025 elections.
In an interview with The Manila Times, Garcia said scrapping the transparency server would “eliminate the possibility that it could not transmit the results of the votes,” citing the seven-hour glitch that happened in the last election.
It will also ensure that the same results will be received by the stakeholders, which will boost the credibility of the polls.
A QR code stores data that can be obtained when scanned, allowing the user to access information instantly.
Garcia also said that this would be the first time that the Comelec did not bundle all the work with one entity because they didn’t want one entity controlling the results.
He said that while Miru has been tasked to handle the hardware and software component; iOne Resources Inc. and Ardent Networks will provide secure electronic transmission services; and SMS Global Technology will handle the Online Voting and Counting System.
He said he would propose that a memorandum of understanding be forged among the three companies to ensure a system of “check and balance.”
At a press conference after the tour, Chung said through an interpreter they opened their factory to observers “to minimize suspicions [and] to be fair and transparent.”
Asked about the innovations the Comelec had requested, he said requirements vary from country to country. “Clients should be followed,” he said.
“We have been in the election scene for more than 20 years. We would like to come with our technical expertise,” Chung said. “We look forward to future partnerships.”
Cho, meanwhile, announced that Miru has invested in two HP PageWide Advantage 2200 inkjet web presses to reaffirm their commitment to the Comelec. Test ballots printed on the web press were presented in Düsseldorf, Germany on June 3 at the Drupa 2024, considered the largest printing equipment exhibition in the world. Comelec Commissioner Rey Dulay and Philippine Consul Cecille Joyce Lao were among those present at the trade event to ensure the quality of the systems is up to par with the poll body’s standards.
Garcia, Commissioners Aimee Ferolino and Nelson Celis thanked Miru for being transparent in their dealings and for “agreeing to help us” in convincing Filipinos that this would be “an election we can trust.”
“Whatever suggestions we made, you always complied, you always agreed,” Garcia said.
He added that there are 6,000 standby machines, 82 repair kits (one per province). He said he expected the arrival of 20,000 ACMs by August, with the rest coming in before the year ends.
Garcia said technology “should not be used to thwart democracy.”
“We have to explain the process step by step for people to understand,” he added. “That is how democracy works.”
WITH FRANCO JOSE C. BAROÑA
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