IT firms to set up practice booths for ARMM polls

MANILA, Philippines – Voters in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) elections in August will be allowed to participate in a dry run to familiarize them with the new method of computerized voting.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said private technology firms have volunteered to set up “practice booths” to enable voters in the region to rehearse before the actual voting on Aug. 11.

Vince Dizon, Smartmatic-Sahi Technology spokesman, said they would set up the practice booths near polling precincts.

“Aside from our intensive voters’ education campaign, on election day itself, practice booths will be set up in all schools or voting areas so that our voters will have a chance to brush up on their knowledge of computerized voting before they actually do so,” Dizon said.

Smartmatic-Sahi is providing the Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) machine for Maguindanao, as well as the overall management of the canvassing and transmission of votes in the region.

Dizon said a total of 3,300 DRE machines will be deployed to the estimated 800 precincts in the ARMM.

The DRE technology utilizes touch-screen computers to digitally tally the votes and directly transmit the results after the close of polling precincts.

“We have allocated more than the required machines for Maguindanao because we will use some of them in the practice booths while the others will be for contingency,” Dizon explained.