The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) assured that the upcoming May 2025 mid-term, October 2026 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan and May 2028 presidential elections will be fully automated to establish the credibility of the conduct of the political exercise in the country.
Chairman George Erwin Garcia disclosed that the system and the machines to be used for the May 2025 midterm elections will also be used for the October 2026 barangay and SK and May 2028 presidential elections to avoid the introduction of changes that might cast doubts on the outcome of the said polls.
Further, he pointed out that the same system and machines will also be used for referendums, plebiscites and recall initiatives because the scope of these activities is limited only to certain areas where the system and the machines could be calibrated for the purpose.
The poll official claimed that President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr., Vice President Sara Duterte, some senators and congressmen have already expressed their all-out support to the changes in the system and the machines that will be used by Comelec in the upcoming elections that is why funding for the said purpose will not be a problem for this to be realized.
Garcia admitted that the over 98,000 vote counting machines used in the previous elections are no longer useful that is why the poll body opted to look for other updated systems and machines that will help in establishing a credible election aside from ensuring transparency from the voting to the canvassing of the votes and the eventual proclamation of the winning candidates.
According to him, the machines to be used in the May 2025 mid-term elections will be equipped with a 12-inch screen where voters can view their ballots aside from the fact that watchers of political parties could also view all the ballots cast and take photos to be used in cross checking the results produced from the machines.
Further, Garcia said that there will also be simultaneous transmission of the election results from the precincts to all the accredited election watchdog, majority and minority parties, the Kapisanan ng mga Broadcasters ng Pilipinas (KBP), Comelec, among others, to ensure the real time transmission of results and for cross checking of the transmitted results to detect discrepancies on what had been transmitted to the different recipients.
The Comelec chair underscored that the poll body has to stick with the system and the machines that will be used during the May 2025 midterm elections because whatever glitches that will be uncovered will be immediately corrected in time for the May 2028 presidential polls to avoid allegations of election fraud that might affect the credibility of the political exercise.