THE first 20 units of the Automated Counting Machines (ACMs) to be used in the May 2025 national and local polls are now in the hands of the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
In a statement, the Comelec said that its systems provider, Miru Systems, turned over on Monday the initial batch of 20 ACM units at the poll body’s warehouse in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.
“All 20 units of ACMs initially delivered to the Commission on Elections successfully passed the Hardware Acceptance Test (HAT),” said the Comelec.
It must be noted that stringent accuracy testing of the ACMs, such as the HAT, are required before they can be officially received by the Comelec.
The HAT involves unpacking each box, turning the ACM unit on, and running the different diagnostics to ensure that each and every component is working properly and in accordance with the specifications and customizations as directed by Comelec.
“HAT results show that all ACM parts, such as the sensor, touchscreen, scanner, printer, camera, USB ports, LED, and external keypad, have passed the appropriate criteria for each component,” said the Comelec.
To note, the Comelec is leasing 110,000 units of ACMs from its service provider, the Joint Venture of Miru Systems Co Ltd, Integrated Computer Systems, St. Timothy Construction Corporation, and Centerpoint Solutions Technologies, Inc. (MIRU-ICS-STCC-CPSTI), for the automation of the 2025 elections.
Miru Systems started building the ACMs in its manufacturing plant in Pangyo Seongnam City, South Korea last month.
The Comelec previously said they are looking at August as the possible arrival of the initial 20,000 ACM units from South Korea, while the complete delivery of the 110,000 machines are expected before the end of December.
Comelec chairman George Garcia said the lease contract with Miru will push through until they are prevented by the Supreme Court (SC).
Garcia said the Comelec has no reason to suspend the implementation of the project with Miru despite the continued opposition from its former systems provider, Smartmatic International.
“At the moment, we have already awarded the contract with Miru Systems and the machines are now being manufactured. Until there is a restraining order or we are reversed by the SC, we will just push forward with Miru,” said Garcia.
Last month, the SC ruled that the Comelec committed grave abuse of discretion when it disqualified Smartmatic from participating in all election-related biddings of the Commission last November 2023.
The said ruling, though, allowed the Comelec and Miru to proceed with the start of the manufacturing the ACMs to be used in the May 2025 elections.
Smartmatic has earlier pressed the Comelec to redo the procurement process for the 2025 automated election system, insisting that there is still “more than enough time” for the poll body to procure a new system for the 2025 polls.
Meanwhile, the Comelec said that just over three months after opening the voter registration period for the May 2025 elections, the three million applicants it has projected has already been met.
Based on the latest Comelec data, there are now 3,020,999 applicants to become registered voters, who filed between February 12 to May 20.
