THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) is looking to come out with a decision on the new voting technology it will use during the May 2025 midterm polls by next month, Elections chairman George Garcia said yesterday.
In a press conference at the sidelines of the second day of the National Election Summit 2023, Garcia said they want to come out with the Terms of Reference (TOR) for the new voting system by April.
“We can commit that we can come out with the Terms of Reference before the end of April because we want an early procurement that is short of award by July to August,” said Garcia.
“We will award (the winning bidder) by January (2024) because once we have a new system, we would want an end-to-end testing immediately,” he added.
As to which new technology will be tapped, Garcia said they will consider all recommendations, including those submitted in the ongoing National Election Summit.
Garcia said one of the suggestions is the merging of the voting machines with biometrics features, such as the digital fingerprint, images, and signature.
“We are discussing in the en banc the so called merger of biometrics technology with the machines that the Comelec may be able to procure,” he said, admitting that the acquisition of newer technologies will require bigger budget allocation from Congress.
“Always, we have to factor the budget. Even if we want a specific technology but is expensive, we cannot have them. Hopefully, for 2025, the Comelec will be allowed to acquire new technology and machines,” said Garcia.
The poll chief said they are hoping that the Comelec will not be forced to reuse the old vote counting machines (VCMs), just like in the 2022 polls.
Last year, the Comelec already declared that the May 2022 polls should be “the last dance for the VCMs” as it has already surpassed its projected lifespan as a voting technology.
Meanwhile, during Day 2 of the National Election Summit, Vice President Sara Duterte called on the Comelec to consider doing away with the ballot shading or handwriting on ballots during elections.
“As you discuss improvements in the electoral process, maybe we can move to something better than shading the ballots or writing on the ballots,” said Duterte, stressing that “the technology of biometrics – fingerprint scanning, face scanning, eye scanning… They can already be found in your gadgets. We use them every day. These are things that can improve our election process.”
