SAN FERNANDO CITY, La Union (PIA) – As the 2025 midterm elections draw nearer, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Ilocos is ramping up its preparations to ensure smooth electoral processes across the region.
According to Atty. Reddy Balarbar, assistant regional election officer of Comelec Ilocos, the region is nearing the completion of its Automated Counting Machine (ACM) roadshows, a key initiative designed to familiarize voters with the new voting technology.
“We’ll wrap up the ACM presentations by the end of the month, and we are positive that we have saturated all the provinces down to the barangays of the region,” Balarbar said during a recent episode of the Philippine Information Agency-Region 1’s Kapihan sa Ilocos.
Comelec started the presentations and demonstrations of the new machine last Dec. 2, 2024.
Balarbar said Comelec aimed to bring roadshows to all the barangays to familiarize voters with its features.
“The ACM is an upgraded version of the vote counting machine where voters can now see the scanned copy of their ballots so they could verify the votes cast,” he said.
The Ilocos Region has a total of 3,267 barangays across 125 municipalities and cities of its four provinces.
The ACMs used during roadshows will be sent back to the Comelec Central Office for reconfiguration.
“We have to transport the ACMs back to Manila after the roadshows, and it will be reconfigured so it will be ready for utilization on the election day,” he stated.
Balarbar noted that the roadshows held in the region were generally successful.
On the other hand, Comelec is gearing up for the upcoming training of trainers of the electoral boards (EB) set from Mar. 3-20, 2025.
According to Balarbar, over 16,000 EB members are expected to serve in the Ilocos Region for the upcoming elections.
They will be manning the 5,337 clustered precincts in 2,684 voting centers across the region.
Each precinct will have a minimum of three members composed of a chair and two poll clerks.
“We’ll train the trainers first, then they will be the ones to train the rest of the members of the EBs,” he said.
These preparations will benefit the 4,846,558 voters in the Ilocos Region during the election day on May 12. (AMB/CGCC, PIA Region 1)
