Fate of poll automation known today

Whether next year’s elections will be partially automated or still done manually will be known today.

Once and for all, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) will decide if computerized elections in selected areas of the country is still possible, its chairman Benjamin Abalos said yesterday.

"We (Comelec en banc) will have the final say if there will be partial automation or not, but of course we are going to base our decision on the suggestion of the technical committee," Abalos told a forum.

He however pointed out the lack of time, budget and law providing for this.

"We do not have the law yet for poll automation. What the Senate and Congress have approved were bills that need to be consolidated into one measure and enacted into law," Abalos explained before the Newsmakers’ Breakfast forum at the Manila Pavilion hotel in Ermita.

"If the elections would have to be automated, the Comelec needs to reschedule all the deadlines and all other activities related to the coming 2007 national and local elections," Abalos said.

Abalos said there are three stages of poll automation — computerized voting, automated counting and electronic transmission of returns.

According to Abalos, computerized voting and automated counting may no longer be feasible because the technology to be used for such purpose is yet to be determined.

"The technical committee will have to determine the machines but if they would say we will apply only electronic transmission there is no problem with that because we already have the machines for it," he said.

Abalos also noted that the Comelec favors the electronic transmission of election returns because it is in this phase of the poll process that massive fraud usually occurs.

Representatives of the Department of Science and Technology, Commission on Information Technology and Communications, University of the Philippines and private information technology groups and Congress are set to attend the meeting between the Comelec en banc and members of the technical committee at the Comelec main office this morning.

The Congress’ bicameral conference committee is set to start deliberations on the two versions of the election automation bill when regular sessions resume on Nov. 6.

But Abalos said that even if the Senate and Congress are able to consolidate the two measures and the technical committee is able to determine the technology, it would still take time to purchase the new machines. — Mayen Jaymalin, Antonietta Lopez