The Question: Just how ready are we for elections automation in 2010?
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The Date : September 24, 2009
The Venue : Assembly Hall, National College of Public Administration and Governance (NCPAG), University of the Philippines — Diliman
The Event : Election 2010: Handa Na Ba Sa Automation?
For more photos of this event, click here.
I have been fortunate to witness first-hand how the automated elections in 2010 will be run, through a demonstration done by Miguel Eugenio Avila of Smartmatic International Corporation – Total Information Management, Inc.
It was an informative experience that I wish to share with you all, specially to online researchers who currently do not have access to “supposed”, “planned” or “intended” series of voters education drive by the COMELEC.
For the benefit of this blog’s readers, allow me to go straight to how the automated elections are going to be conducted. Commentary will follow at the end of this post.
Bases for implementation of automated elections:
- RA 9369, RA 9525, GR 188456
Processes that will make up the 2010 elections:
1. Registration:
Dates/deadlines to remember:
October 31, 2009 — deadline for voter’s registration
November 20 – 30, 2009 — period of filing of certificate of candidacies for all elective posts
November 30, 2009 — deadline for precinct transfers
February 9 – May 8, 2010 — official campaign period for President, VP, Senators, party list groups
March 26 – May 8, 2010 — official campaign period for those running as house reps, provincial, city and municipal posts
April 10 – May 10, 2010 at 3pm (host country time) — overseas absentee voting (OAV) casting of ballots
May 9-10, 2010 — CAMPAIGNING IS NO LONGER ALLOWED
May 10, 2010 from 7:00AM to 6:00PM — Philippine elections
(source: Coolbuster Blog)
2. Voting
3. Counting
4. Transmission
5. Canvassing
6. Proclamation
Machines to be used: PCOS ( Precinct Count Optical Scan)
Paraphernalia: ballot paper, marker, security key, thermal paper
Power source: battery (12hours max)
Thermal paper integrity: assuming optimal condition, will last 12years
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How To Vote Using PCOS (Precinct Count Optical Scan) Machine in the 2010 Automated Elections:
1. Before leaving the house, write down your complete list of preferred candidates on a piece of paper so that you can use it as guide when voting in the precinct later. It’s perfectly okay and actually highly recommended that you bring a list of your chosen candidates specially if you have unreliable memory that suddenly hangs-up shortly before it’s your turn to vote. This will also make you vote faster.
2. Arrive at your designated precinct at least an hour earlier than scheduled to give you leeway in case you need to look for your name longer than usual. Remember that because we have limited PCOS machines, some precincts will have up to four times the usual number of registered voters. The usual 250 or so per precinct will go as high as 1,000.
2. Bring the registration stub portion given to you when you registered for the elections. Your precinct number is written on that stub.
3. Check in with the Board of Elections Inspectors (BEI) and secure an empty ballot, ask for a marker as well.
4. Using the marker given to you by the BEI, shade the circles corresponding to your chosen candidates . Make sure to shade it completely. Do this until you’ve shaded all that you want to vote on.
5. There are portions of the ballot where you will be asked for more than one choice, so make sure you read the instructions carefully (instructions are in Filipino). Avoid writing anything outside the circle or anywhere else on the ballot. While SMARTMATIC-TIM claims that anything written outside the circles will be disregarded by the machine, better not to do this just for the heck of it.
5. Remember, it’s okay to undervote (to choose less names than what is asked, ie. voting less than 12 senators), but you are never allowed to overvote. If you overvote, the entire section where the overvoting was commited, will be disregarded. It will result to a spoiled section in a valid ballot. For example, voting 13 senators instead of 12 will spoil all your answers in the senatorial posts section, but all other remaining sections on the ballot, if shaded properly, will be counted as good votes.
6. After shading, feed the ballot paper to the PCOS machine and allow the machine to eat it up, should there be wrong orientations (bottom first or upside down) the PCOS should be able to detect it.
7. Your ballot paper will be checked for shading intensity (every PCOS machine can be programmed in terms of shading intensity settings, I have yet to find out the specifics on this one, whether there will be a standard setting for all precincts or whether it may vary from precinct to precinct — but of course, by default, it should be standardized). If it passes the test, then it will fall inside the ballot box and a “Thank you for voting” prompt/message will appear on the touch screen.”
8. Let the BEI officers put ink/tint on your index finger.
9. There you have it, you’ve just participated in the much-awaited automated elections — the first of its scale in the world! You’re now part of this historic event! Give yourself a pat on the back and flash a wide smile of confidence and hope! :)
10. If you have online access, remain vigilant by guarding your votes. Log on to the public domain site that COMELEC will put-up prior to elections [link to future public domain site here]
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Statistics/Fast Facts:
May 10, 2010 will be a historic event because after 100 years of manual elections (1907 – Oct 2007), we will finally have automated elections!
Precincts – 80
Cities / Municipality – 1628
Brgy. – 41,994
Established clustered precincts – 80136
Voter turnout – 32,389,932 or 73.15%
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So, are we ready for automated elections in 2010?
Answer: Not quite, but we’re getting there.
With the way things are going right now, I’d say, not quite. Specially after the tragedy of typhoon Ondoy and Pepeng, the future seems bleak. But it doesn’t have to be. We may not be 100% ready yet, but we’ll get there. Let us trust that COMELEC, now with new people, will deliver what is expected of them.
I urge you all my fellow netizens, specially bloggers and those who have access to essential information directly from COMELEC to publish as much information as possible. Information gives us power — to make informed decisions, to logically assess situations, to respond appropriately and in a timely manner.
We are in the information age, where data is exchange at rapid speeds, real-time and at reliable quality and integrity. Let us capitalize on this technology and reap the benefits that await the optimists.
Being a computer technologist myself, I have faith in the system –technically speaking. Barring “human intervention”, the set-up will run as programmed. The scenario of multiple system bug-downs may be possible but it’s not anything that the IT people can’t handle. We produce the best IT professionals in the world who make the most complicated and state-of-the-art computerized systems (hardware and software) that power a range of medical equipments to military applications. Why doubt that a Linux-run PCOS that in essence is no more than an optical scanner and counter/adding machine rolled into one will fail us? It’s time to dispel all doubts and work on making this automation process a success.
If the 2010 automated elections fail, it is not automation that’s the problem. It is us. If there is anything to fear, it is not technology but ourselves. Because in the final analysis, elections are more about people than it is about machines.
If you haven’t already, please don’t forget to register. Registration deadline is October 31, 2009. Even apathy becomes tiring over time. Try to care this time, you’ll never know, you might just like it. Register and vote. More than a right, it’s a responsibility.
UPDATE: 21Oct2009
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Let me know what you think… :)