DAGUPAN CITY (PIA) – About 1,000 Pangasinenses are set to get a firsthand experience on the use of the new automated counting machine (ACM) in a mock elections on August 20 in a fieldhouse of the Lyceum Northwestern University, here.
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chair George Erwin Garcia will lead the first public simulation in Northern Luzon to introduce the new features of the machine which will be used in the May 2025 midterm polls.
“This is an upgrade featuring new technology. It addresses the shortcomings of the previous VCM (vote-counting machines) we used and is more advanced. This is the latest technology we will be using in the upcoming election,” Lawyer Marino Salas, provincial elections supervisor of Comelec Pangasinan, told the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) Pangasinan.
Salas said the demonstration aims to show the public the security features of the new machine.
“There is no perfect technology—this is something we must remember. What I’m saying is that we comply with all legal and technological requirements and we open this up to the information technology (IT) community for examination, study, and review to address any concerns about potential fraud. That is how transparent Comelec is. That is why we are conducting public demonstrations to show citizens that the machines are very secure,” he added.
The demonstration will involve students, senior citizens, persons with disabilities, and media practitioners in Pangasinan.
Coinciding with the demonstration, Comelec will also hold a voter education and registration fair to inform the public about their right to vote and encourage participation in the ongoing registration, which will end on Sept. 30, 2024.
He said that despite the high turnout of voter registrations in the province, which surpassed the 75,000 to 100,000 target with 123,000 voters registered as of Aug. 15, Comelec continues to urge residents to register and not wait until the deadline.
Salas reminded the public to take advantage of the Register Anywhere Program (RAP), available only until Aug. 31, 2024, which allows registration at the nearest RAP site regardless of residence.
To date, Pangasinan has a total of 2.1 million registered voters after the Comelec updated the voters’ list, removing over 100,000 individuals who either failed to vote twice, are deceased, or have transferred. (MJTAB/EMSA/PIA Pangasinan)
