BONTOC, Mountain Province (PIA) — The Commission on Elections – Mountain Province conducted mock elections on January 25, 2025 in four different precincts in the province in preparation for the May 2025 midterm elections.
Participating precincts are Bontoc Central School and Guinaang Elementary School in Bontoc, and Ankileng National High School and Sagada Central School in Sagada.
Provincial Election Supervisor Atty. Dexter Cawis shared that Mountain Province is one of the six provinces selected for the mock elections to assess the automated election system (AES) for the upcoming polls. Personnel from COMELEC Central Office assisted COMELEC- Mt. Province in the conduct of the mock elections.
The exercise mimicked the end-to-end voting process where voters can verify their votes have been recorded accurately.
Voters shared that despite the minimal technical problems during their voting, their overall experience was good.
“My experience with the machine, linumwar met dagijay da insurat ko nga nagan, so hopefully it [ACM] will work well. My experience was okay,” Bontoc Poblacion Punong Barangay Florence Taguiba shared.
Another voter said the new machine allows for the viewing of the candidates she voted.
“We can view the candidates that we have voted so we can verify kung sino yung binoto mo. Very good, ” Belinda Galo, a resident of Bontoc said.
Cawis said training for technical assistants for the ACM will be conducted to further assure the smooth conduct of the May elections.
“Ag training tayu met ti technical staff tayu, isudan tu ti maasign ti poling center nu election day. Isuda ti ag trouble shoot [jai ACM],” he said. (JDP/VJLT-PIA CAR, Mountain Province)
