If the Commission on Elections (Comelec) had its way, indelible ink would be gone in the 2016 elections, replaced by stringent biometric checks.
Comelec Commissioner Christian Robert Lim said the Comelec had been looking forward to test a biometrics-based Voter Verification System (VVS) for the coming elections, which would make flying voters a thing of the past.
“When your biometrics are scanned and it shows you haven’t voted yet, you will be given a ballot.
And at the end of the day, the biometrics machine will print the voter turnout,” Lim said on the sidelines of the first Meet Inquirer Media forum last week.
The commission said last February that it was intending to pilot test the technology in Metro Manila in 2016.
But Lim concedes that may have to wait as they are faced with constraints.
“We were planning to pilot it but with the problems we have had on other issues, we needed more funding for the bidding,” he said.
Lim said the VVS system would be a huge step in eliminating cheating during the polls.
He said the system would specifically eliminate so-called flying voters, who are able to vote twice in the polls chiefly by removing the indelible ink that is proof of their voting, and by posing as someone else.
“Yes, it would definitely reduce flying voters. Going one step further, we are also thinking of tying up the biometrics with the (precinct count optical scan) machine.
It would only accept your ballot if it verified that you are really linked to it,” he said.