THERE’s no cause for alarm, says Commission on Elections (Comelec) following the replacement of around 200 malfunctioning automated counting machines (ACM) which caused delay in the conduct of the 2025 midterm election.
“Mayroon tayong more or less 200 machines na kinakailangan palitan. Hindi naman huminto pero napapansin namin nakaka-dalawang beses nag-reject,” according to Comelec chairman George Garcia following reports of malfunctioning ACMs in Cebu.
“Kaagad nagdesisyon ang aming operations center na i-pull out ang machines at palitan ito ng bago para hindi maging worse pa,” was quoted as saying.
AREAS OF CONCERN
Among those he cited were five malfunctioning ACMs at the Lahug Elementary School in Cebu. The Comelec chief however clarified that issues were immediately resolved by the authorized technicians.
Technical issues with several vote-counting machines also disrupted the early hours of voting at GB Lontok Memorial Integrated School in Lipa City, Batangas.
“16,000 ang contingency natin. In fact nung 2022, umaga pa lang 2,500 na makina na ang pinapalitan. Of course, mga lumang makina yan. Ang sa amin preventive measure, kahit di pa sira ang makina pero nagpapakita na ng indication, pinu-pull out na agad.”
WATCHFUL EYES
Poll watchdog Legal Network for Truthful Elections (LENTE) also reported glitches in some ACMs in other parts of the country.
“The most common problem involved sensitive scanners that frequently rejected ballots. In these instances, the Electoral Board had to temporarily pause operations to clean the scanner, resulting in delays and long queues,” LENTE said.
In a precinct in Zamboanga del Sur, ACM rejected ballots at around 5:30 a.m. and remained unresolved by 6:56 a.m. Voters were allowed to fill out their ballots but were informed that their ballots would be temporarily set aside and fed into the ACM once operational.
MORE PLACES
The group likewise took note of voting centers in Ilocos Sur, Cagayan, Negros Oriental, Bohol, Aklan, and Lanao Del Norte where similar issues were observed.
In a precinct in Santa Cruz, Laguna, a Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail was jammed, but the electoral board resolved the issue.
“While most voting centers where LENTE monitors were deployed began preparations on time, technical and procedural issues must be addressed swiftly to avoid disenfranchisement and reinforce public trust in the electoral process,” LENTE said.
RECEIPT MISMATCH
The Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) said it received reports of mismatches between the actual votes and the receipts from the automated counting machines (ACM).
Some ballots were also invalidated due to overvoting, the group added.
“No specific geographic. At first, we’re trying to observe if there is a pattern in a specific polling center, but it seems yung mga tawag namin, so far, iba’t iba ang locations (the calls we receive came from different locations),” PPCRV spokesperson Ana Singson told reporters.
Singson noted that this is the first time PPCRV received such reports.
In one case, a voter picked four senators, but the automatic counting machines read eight senators.