Automated polls down to 15 areas

The Senate and the House of Representatives have agreed to approve a joint resolution limiting computerized elections in May 2004 to only 15 sites, as per recommendation of the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

Sen. Teresa Aquino-Oreta, a member of the Senate panel that met with its House counterpart last week, said yesterday Congress is limiting the computerization of elections because the Comelec now lacks time to prepare for it.

Another major reason is the lack of funds to purchase the vote counting machines needed nationwide, she said.

Oreta said the 15 sites where computerized counting would be pilot-tested are Metro Manila, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, the provinces of Bataan, Albay and Cebu, and the cities of Baguio, Cebu, Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu, Talisay, Iloilo, Bacolod, Cagayan de Oro, Cotabato, and Isabela.

She said the joint resolution limiting computerized polls to these areas would be approved when Congress resumes session next Monday.

It will have the force and effect of a law, she added.

Besides Oreta, those who represented the Senate in the bicameral panel were Senators Edgardo Angara, John Osmeña and Robert Jaworski.

Their House counterparts were Representatives Agapito Aquino, Jesli Lapus, Enrique Garcia, Didagen Dilangalen, Loretta Ann Rosales, Benasing Macarambon, Frank Perez, Arthur Defensor and Junie Cua.

Oreta said besides the fact that the Comelec now lacks time to computerize the counting of votes nationwide, many of the machines that it has procured were found to be faulty when tested by the Department of Science and Technology.

She said of the initial units tested, at least 10 malfunctioned, or a 30 percent failure rate.

"At the rate these counting machines are malfunctioning, we cannot sacrifice the integrity of the May 2004 presidential elections," she stressed.

Comelec officials have argued for a nationwide computerization as mandated by the law mandating the use of computer technology in next year’s elections to make them more honest and orderly.

Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos said the machines that failed have been returned to the supplier and replaced with new ones.

The ideal situation is that only in areas where some machines fail will we resort to manual counting, he said.

"But members of Congress are the boss. We only enforce what they pass as law," he added. — Jess Diaz