Info drive, training on new tech for poll volunteers
Lawyer Rafael B. Olano, the new Comelec Region-7 director answers questions from the press. (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)
A massive information campaign and extensive training of election volunteers are needed in case the Commission on Elections (Comelec) adapts a new automated election system, an election official said yesterday.
Cebu Provincial Election Supervisor Lionel Castillano said the province may easily accommodate the Direct Recording Electronic (DRE), a voting system that uses touch-screen technology.
The DRE was recommended by the Comelec Advisory Council (CAC) for use in the 2016 elections. But Castillano said orientation and training are needed whenever new technology is introduced.
“We need voter’s education if we want to push through with this new technology. It will be hard at first, just like when we introduced the PCOS (Precinct Count Optical Scan) before,” he said.
Urbanized
The Precinct-Count Optical Scanners or PCOS machines were first used in the 2010 elections.
The Comelec en banc approved the CAC recommendation that multiple or mixed technologies, including the DRE and the Optical Mark Reader (OMR), will be used for the 2016 elections.
Castillano said the pilot test planned in Cebu is possible since majority of the province is urbanized.
“The people here also learn fast as evidenced by the relatively quick adjustment to the PCOS technology in the past,” he told reporters yesterday during a general assembly of Cebu Comelec employees at the Capitol.
Comelec Regional Director Rafael Olaño said the commission is still deliberating whether these technologies will be appropriate for Filipinos.
He said the DRE was pilot tested in Maguindanao during the 2008 ARMM automated election which yielded satisfactory results.
“The results were good but we haven’t tried doing it with a large number,” Olaño said.
The Comelec will also hold pilot tests for Internet voting as part of their preparations for its possible use in future elections.
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