PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan (PIA) –The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) believes that innovations in voting systems for the upcoming national and local elections in 2025 will help improve the election services in the country.
Chairman George Erwin Garcia said that the Commission adopted changes such as providing an exclusive voting schedule for vulnerable sectors composed of persons with disabilities (PWDs), senior citizens, and pregnant individuals, and facilitating voting inside the mall.
Garcia said that it is part of the plan of the COMELEC to provide convenient and secured election services to the voters.
“Kinakailangan sa aking palagay at sa palagay ng buong komisyon na ang Comelec sa bawat pagdaong ng panahon ay kinakailangan na nagbabago rin ang ating paniniwala sa kung papaano natin isasagawa ang ating halalan. Kinakailangan ay nag-i-improve din ang ating sistema, dahil kung ang Comelec ay mananatili sa kung ano ang nakasanayan, wala kaming kwenta,” he said.
The mall voting is planned to be implemented nationwide to cater to the voters from barangays of the mall. The Commission observed that the facilitation of voting in some malls during the 2023 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) eliminated the presence of vote buying and threats.
The internet voting will also be launched by COMELEC for the voters abroad through the use of their gadgets such as phones, laptops and tablets. The voters will no longer need to go to the embassy, and for COMELEC to send envelopes containing ballots overseas.
However, 12 countries will not allow their internet services to be used for the elections in 2025, such as China and Russia. The Commission will send some of the units of the Miru System’s automated counting machine (ACM) abroad to vote through the machine’s touchscreen features.
“Ginagawa natin ‘yan sapagkat gusto natin masigurado na walang kahit isang Pilipino sa Pilipinas man o sa abroad ang hindi makakaboto. Naniniwala tayo that a vote that cast is a voice that heard,” Garcia said.
The internet voting is in preparation for the plan to conduct internet voting for the vulnerable sectors in the next elections in the country, Garcia added. (RG/PIA MIMAROPA-Palawan)
