Last batch of PCOS machines arriving today

By Helen Flores (The Philippine Star)
http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=553339&publicationSubCategoryId=63

MANILA, Philippines - The last batch of Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines that will be used in the May 10 automated elections is set to arrive in Manila today, according to Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal.

Larrazabal said a total of 13,580 PCOS machines are expected to arrive this morning, completing the 82,200 PCOS machines ordered by the Comelec.

Smartmatic-Total Information Management (TIM) Corp. had been contracted to produce 82,200 PCOS machines for the P7.2-billion poll automation project. Of these units, 6,739 are spare machines.

Smartmatic also bagged the P243-million contract to manufacture 77,000 ballot boxes.

The timeline given to Smartmatic-TIM to turn over the machines was Feb. 28, but the joint venture set a self-imposed deadline of Feb. 26.

Meanwhile, to ensure the success of the first ever automated election in the country, the Comelec is putting over 76,000 PCOS machines to a second and final test for efficiency days before the May 2010 elections.

In a 17-page resolution issued last Wednesday, the Comelec also set the rules and procedures for the testing and sealing of the paper-based PCOS machines.

The Comelec did not give the specific testing date for the PCOS machines.

As required by law, the Comelec ordered the testing of machines three days before the holding of the overseas absentee voting on April 10.

For the elections in the country, Comelec directed the Board of Election Inspectors (BEI) and Special Board of Election Inspector (SBEI) to convene in their assigned polling places for the testing and sealing before election day.

At least five days before the testing and sealing of the PCOS machines, the Election Officer (EO) or Committee on Overseas Absentee Voting (COAV) of the Commission shall notify in writing the BEI and SBEI concerned of the date, time and place of the testing and sealing.

Candidates, registered political parties, coalition of political parties, organizations participating in the party-list system shall be also notified of the testing and sealing of the PCOS machines not later than April 30.

According to the poll body, 10 voters will be selected to participate in the testing and sealing of the PCOS machines.

The Comelec has also imposed rules for the conduct of manual counting of the ballots to verify whether the PCOS machines properly counted all the votes.

Review will be undertaken in case of discrepancy in results of manual and computer-generated election returns.

At this time, all the PCOS machines are already undergoing laboratory testing, but Comelec said actual field testing will be undertaken prior to election to ensure the machines are working well.

Meanwhile, migrant workers still see a failure of the computerized overseas absentee voting (OAV) despite ongoing training of Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) personnel.

Members of the militant Migrante International said the failure of OAV is “inevitable” with the majority of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) unaware of the automated election system.

Migrante chair Garry Martinez said the Comelec has not released clear-cut guidelines to address these problems and there are no schedules of voters’ education for OFWs.

Martinez also voiced concern that the allotted PCOS machines for automated elections in Hong Kong and Singapore are not enough.

Thirty PCOS machines are allotted for the automated polls for the 127,206 OFWs who are expected to vote in Hong Kong and Singapore. – With Mayen Jaymalin