Vote-counting machines undergo final test before May 9 polls

MANILA, Philippines, May 4 ------ The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is conducting a week-long final inspection of the voting counting machines (VCMs) across the country to ensure that they are functioning properly for the May 9 polls.

The process – also known as final testing and sealing (FTS) – commenced in Metro Manila on May 3. Comelec Chairman Saidamen Pangarungan personally graced the FTS event at San Juan Elementary School in San Juan, and expressed confidence that the process would further boost the public’s confidence in the automated election system. “This has a positive impact to the actual voting because we are seeing through the FTS that the election process is very okay,” Pangarungan said in Filipino in an ambush interview.

During the FTS, poll workers who will man the actual elections take out the VCMs that will be used, and set them up, following a meticulous set of instructions. The VCMs generate a receipt of the initialization report to prove that they are not pre-programmed.

Ten test ballots come with the box, which are then filled out by select election watchers. Participants feed the test ballots into the VCMs, then check whether the voter receipt that the machine produces matches their votes. Once the polls have concluded, an election worker uses an i-button to notify the machine that voting has closed. Election returns are then generated by the VCM.

After the FTS process for every VCM, the electoral board “re-zeroes” the machine so that the results of the test voting will not be carried on actual election day. The test ballots, meanwhile, will be turned over to the Comelec for proper disposal.

Source: rappler.com