Comelec, CICT: Not enough time to automate barangay polls

By Erwin Oliva - INQUIRER.net


MANILA, Philippines -- Both the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) believe there is not enough time to automate the village polls.

"There is not enough time. There are only six to seven weeks left until October 29, 2007," said CICT Commissioner Tim Diaz de Rivera, who is also chair of the technical advisory committee to the Comelec, in reaction to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's statement Friday.

The technical advisory committee is composed of several government agencies and private sector stakeholders handpicked by the CICT.

Arroyo announced that she wanted the elections computerized starting with the barangay (village) elections next month. She said this during the diamond jubilee celebration of the Woman Suffrage Philippines at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City.

“I don't know how it can be done. We are just starting to evaluate potential vendors. But last July, we did suggest non-binding mock elections for the October elections. The Comelec rejected it because there was not enough time," Diaz de Rivera said.

The government executive stressed that the technical advisory committee and the Comelec have agreed to implement an automated election system for the ARMM polls in August 2008.

Last week, there was a suggestion to hold automated mock elections in November in select areas with minimal cost to government, Diaz de Rivera said.

"We haven't decided on which areas. The law [Republic Act 9369] requires us to do it in 12 locations covering 5 percent of voting population. Since there's no funding available for pilot implementation," the government executive said.

He added that the technical advisory committee is also looking at holding a vendor road show, where vendors could showcase their technology during mock elections in one designated area.

"The idea here is to understand various technologies of different vendors and from that activity combined with our own research, we will recommend what Comelec can use during ARMM elections," Diaz de Rivera said.

The government executive also stressed that RA 9369 or the Automated Election System law requires Comelec to have a six-month lead time for voter education.

"If we wanted to automate the barangay elections, voter education should have started as early as February or March.

Meanwhile, James Jimenez, spokesperson from Comelec, agreed with the assessment of CICT Commissioner Diaz de Rivera.

Jimenez also stressed that there is no "consolidation of votes" during the village polls, which involves 42,000 barangays.

"There's no consolidation of votes during the barangay elections. We might be under-utilizing the technology that will be used," he said, adding that the Comelec is preparing for automating the ARMM elections.

Nonetheless, Jimenez said that the Comelec will wait for the recommendations of the technical advisory committee.

Comelec officials were unavailable for additional comment.

The CICT head has been mandated under Republic Act 9369, which amends the Automated Election Law (RA 8436), to name at least six non-government representatives to come out with guidelines on how to automate elections by 2010.