The Commission on Elections (Comelec) conducted a Cebu demonstration on how to use the new Automated Counting Machines (ACMs). | CDN Digital photo/ Emmariel Ares
CEBU CITY, Philippines – The Automated Counting Machines (ACM) that will be used in the 2025 midterm elections possess upgrades that will guarantee that all votes casts will been counted.
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) gave the assurance during a voters’ information awareness campaign and public demonstration held at the Cebu Normal University (CNU) on Friday, October 25.
Lawyer George Garcia, the Comelec chairman, said that the new ACMs have several features, like a transmit-to-all capability and touchscreen interface, for a better voting experience.
Garcia revealed that for the first time, they will be implementing a “hybridized” system in next year’s elections.
Hybridized means a combination of automated and manual processes. While the election remains automated, Garcia said that a manual counting of votes can also be done to make sure that the votes cast are properly accounted for.
‘Transmit-to-all’
With its “transmit-to-all” feature, a copy of the election returns will be simultaneously sent from the ACMs to the servers of the city board of canvassers, majority party, minority party, citizen groups, and the media.
Garcia added that a physical copy of the election returns will also be posted outside of each precincts in order for the voters to see how their candidates faired in the elections.
In addition, Comelec will be also display photos of the ballots, without the voters’ information, for further checking by the watchers.
Another key feature of the new ACMs is the 14-inch touchscreen panel that will display a voter’s ballot after inserting it into the machine.
The old ACMs that Comelec used will only signify that transmission was successful. This time, the new ACMs will allow voters to review the content of their ballots for 15 seconds.
Garcia said that this will help voters feel reassured that their votes were counted and have not been tampered with.
“Mapagmamalaki natin na masasagot namin ang katanungan – nabilang ba ang boto ko?,” he said during his Cebu visit.
Hacking
Asked about the possibility of hacking, Garcia said that the new ACMS are impossible to hack because these are standalone equipment that do not rely on any cables that need to be plugged in, which is a deterrence to hacking.
“Imposible ang hacking dito sa machine sapagkat wala siyang nakakabit na kahit anong kable. Kakabitan lang siya ng transmission device pagkatapos nya magprint ng election returns,” he said.
Garcia said that since they switched to an automated system in 2010, there have been no reported incidents wherein the manually counted results differed from the transmitted election results.
New ACMS
Having weak Internet signal is not even a problem since the new ACMs are not Internet dependent. Each of these machines are also powered by lithium batteries that can last up to three days.
With these improvements, Garcia expressed confidence that their system is more transparent now, as they also continue to adopt enhanced contingency plans.
According to the Comelec chairman, a total of 110,000 ACMs will be used in the midterm elections while 5,500-6,000 other machines will be placed on standby as contingency equipments in case of technical problems.
The ACMs are leased from South Korean company Miru Systems and will be returned after the elections.
Moreover, Garcia said that they tapped another company as transmission service provider to ensure accountability.
Garcia said that more than one internet service provider will also be assigned to the different polling areas to ensure the immediate transmission of election results.
Youth sector
During the awareness information campaign and public demonstration, guests and students, who were present, were given a chance to try the new vote-counting machine for themselves.
In an interview with local media, Garcia stressed on the need for the 24 million youth voters to go out and cast their votes in the 2025 midterm elections.
“Yung 24 million di hamak na napakalaking porsyento yun ng ating botante. And therefore kung boboto sila bilang isang bloke, isang grupo, sigurado magiging maayos ang kinabukasan natin,” he said.