THE Commission on Elections yesterday said the use of the much-preferred Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) technology in an automated national election in 2010 may be sidelined due to budget constraints.

While clarifying that nothing is final yet, Comelec Commissioner Rene Sarmiento said they could settle for the Optical Mark Reader (OMR) which is less expensive than the DRE. "If the budget would not be enough, we may opt for OMR in the 2010 polls."

He said the Comelec’s advisory council on poll automation has yet to give its final recommendations as to which technology will be used in the 2010 national and local elections. "They are still in the process of fine-tuning it and we are still waiting for the final words from the council."

DRE uses touch-screen or touch-pad technology and is fully automated from voting to counting and final transmission of results to the canvassing centers at the provincial and regional levels. OMR technology requires voters to fill out a paper ballot which is then scanned by automated counting machines.

In the elections in the Autonomous Region on Muslim Mindanao last August, Comelec tried both the DRE and OMR to see which of the two technologies was better suited for a nationwide election.

Comelec Chairman Jose Melo had earlier said DRE was far more effective owing to less human intervention but the downside was its cost. He also said a possible "hybrid" technology could be used if the budget of the Comelec will allow it.

In the ARMM election, the Comelec spent around P525 million for the DRE technology used exclusively in Maguindanao while expenditures for five other ARMM areas where the OMR technology was used only amounted to P125 million.