SATURDAY |FEBRUARY 9, 2008| PHILIPPINES

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Comelec sets automated ARMM polls
to evaluate system’s feasibility for 2010


THE Commission on Elections yesterday ordered the full automation of the August 2008 elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), saying this would be a good gauge of the feasibility of automated polls in 2010.

In Resolution 8415 issued last Feb. 6, Comelec ordered the use of two systems: one for perennial problem area Maguindanao and another for the rest of the region.

"The use of different kinds of automated election systems will allow Comelec to evaluate the suitability of the two different technologies of the Philippine setting preparatory to designing an automated election system for nationwide use in 2010," said Comelec spokesman James Jimenez.

The two technologies to be used are the Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) which allows voting through touch-screens, and Optical Media Reader (OMR) which will requires voters to fill up ballots to be tabulated by special machines.

Jimenez said the designation of Maguindanao as the test area for DRE was based on the commission en banc’s consideration of the province’s development level as well as the "contiguous" nature of its geography.

He said Resolution 8415 contains almost the entire recommendation of the advisory council that was mandated by the election automation law to suggest what technology to use in automating the elections. "The only difference in the recommendation was in the scope of the DRE. The recommendation was originally only for two cities in the ARMM," Jimenez said, adding that the Comelec en banc considered the suggested coverage too limited.

Maguindanao is the province where the results of the 2007 midterm elections were allegedly manufactured after the administration’s Team Unity swept the Genuine Opposition, 12-0 in the senatorial race. ARMM, composed of Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Shariff Kabunsuan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi, has a population of 2,803,805 and 1,504,024 registered voters. – Gerard M. Naval

 


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