Comelec confident of fewer automated machine failures in 2025 midterm polls – exec

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 23) — A Commission on Elections (Comelec) official said the poll body is confident there will be fewer machine failures during the 2025 midterm polls with the entry of new automated counting machines (ACMs).

"With this setup ngayon na bago ito, bagong mga makina ito, we are confident na kung may mangyari lamang, hindi ganun karami, hindi ganun kadaming mga areas na makakapag-experience," Comelec Executive Director Teopisto Elnas Jr. said on Tuesday.

[Translation: With this setup of new machines, we are confident that if there are incidents, there will be fewer, and not many areas will experience issues.]

The poll body plans to introduce the ACMs for the next national and local elections to replace the vote-counting machines (VCMs).

During the House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms hearing, Elnas said the Comelec recognized that the VCMs used in the May 2022 general elections were old and that they expected issues to arise.

Many voters were either delayed in feeding their ballots to the machines or were unable to cast their votes due to malfunctions, paper jams, and other related issues.

In such cases, the agency had two contingency measures: voters can either wait for the machine to be repaired or sign a waiver and leave the ballot with the electoral board, under the watch of political party representatives, citizens’ arm, and poll watchers.

"Sisikapin namin na as much as possible na hindi natin ma-apply itong contingency measures natin," Elnas also said. "'Yong normal and usual procedure ang magagamit for the convenience and safeguard dun sa process natin."

[Translation: We will make sure that as much as possible we will not need to apply these contingency measures. We would just go through the normal and usual procedure for the convenience and safety of our process.]

The poll official also said the Comelec plans to set up provincial technical hubs during the 2025 midterm elections so that it can quickly address machine issues.

Concern about lone bidder in 2025 automated polls

Some lawmakers were concerned about machine failures because of claims that the use of the technology of South Korean-based firm Miru Systems Co. Ltd., the lone bidder for the 2025 automated polls, resulted in election failures in Iraq and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The company has denied the allegations.

READ: Lone bidder for 2025 automated polls system shuts down election failure claims

Miru is going into a joint venture with local firms Integrated Computer Systems, St. Timothy Construction Corporation, and Centerpoint Solutions Technologies Inc. for the Philippines’ midterm polls.

Comelec spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco said scrutinizing the performance history of Miru Systems is part of the post-qualification evaluation, which the Comelec's Special Bids and Awards Committee started on Tuesday.

WATCH: Tanging bidder sa automated election sumasailalim sa post qualification evaluation

For her part, ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro said a review of the performance history should have been part of the pre-qualification process.

Elnas assured that Comelec’s ongoing assessment includes stress tests on both software and hardware that will be used from the voting until the transmission of election results.

So far, the Comelec special panel said it has not seen any issues with Miru Systems' technology. The post-qualification evaluation is expected to run for a month.

Laudiangco said there will be a second failure of bidding if Miru Systems fails in the evaluation. He said the poll body might go into a negotiated procurement, according to election laws.

CNN Philippines correspondent Paige Javier contributed to this report.