NEXT month’s special elections in the seventh legislative district of Cavite will not be fully automated as the Commission on Elections (Comelec) will not be using electronic transmission of the results from polling precincts.
In a press briefing, Comelec Executive Director Teopisto Elnas said that while the special polls on February 25 will use the vote counting machines (VCMs), the transmission of results will be done manually.
“For purposes of the submission of election results at the precinct level, we won’t be using electronic transmission,” said Elnas.
“The SD (secure digital) cards will be manually brought to the municipal board of canvassers to be uploaded and for canvassing. In like manner, the results will be brought to provincial level, consolidated, then proclaim the winning candidate,” he added.
Aside from the transmission, Elnas said the special elections will adopt the automated election system (AES).
“This will be an automated election as far as voting and counting are concerned,” said the poll official.
Elections spokesman John Rex Laudiangco said machine-readable official ballots are already set to be printed in time for the special elections.
“We will just announce when will we start printing the 355,184 official ballots,” said Laudiangco.
Similarly, Elnas said the VCMs are now ready for deployment to the 426 clustered polling precincts in 75 voting centers.
“There will be mandatory final testing and sealing for all VCMs deployed about five days before February 25,” said Elnas.
The special polls was set for the election of the new congressman for the seventh district of Cavite after Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla was appointed to head the Department of Justice.
Subsequently, the House of Representatives passed a resolution declaring a vacancy in the seventh district of Cavite, thereby requiring the conduct of a special elections.
