Poll automation demos to follow October barangay elections

By Lawrence Casiraya - INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines -- The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will begin testing different automation technologies following the local barangay elections this October.

The Comelec is looking to finally deploy computerization beginning with next year's local elections in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

"Chairman (Benjamin) Abalos and Commissioner (Resureccion) Borra have agreed to hold the mock elections a week after the barangay elections," said Tim Diaz de Rivera, head of the technical working group assisting Comelec with its modernization efforts.

The mock polls are designed to help Diaz de Rivera's group in evaluating which technology to adopt for the ARMM elections, scheduled for August 2008.

The Comelec has also issued requests for information or RFI to technology suppliers so that they could present their products for demonstration.

In an interview via phone, Diaz de Rivera added there is a possibility of adopting different technologies for the actual elections. He said that one platform his group is eyeing uses direct recording electronic (DRE) machines.

Instead of manual polling booths, DRE uses preconfigured options wherein the voter casts his vote by pressing a touch screen that lists down the names of candidates.

While this is the most advanced technology commonly used in other countries, this is also touted as the most expensive to deploy, according to Comelec in its website.

DRE is the most marketed platform for election automation, with at least seven vendors selling the technology, according to Diaz de Rivera.

He added that his group is eyeing precincts in which each vendor can demonstrate their respective solutions.

"One option is for local government units to volunteer to hold the mock polls. We already have mayors who have volunteered for it," he said.