Comelec chief says voter receipts to slow down count

THE recent Supreme Court ruling that required the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to print the voter receipts will slow down the counting of votes, a top local election official said yesterday.

“The printing of ballot receipts will take around a minute, and per precinct has at least 800 voters. That would mean additional hours for teachers and security personnel to render service,” regional Comelec director Jose Nick Mendros said.

He said the SC ruling will affect the preparations of Comelec regional offices now that the elections are barely two months away.

The Supreme Court granted a petition by senatorial candidate Richard Gordon requiring the Comelec to print out the voter receipts.

“It will set back our preparations for elections. I am not sure though if the Comelec  (national office) will file a motion for reconsideration,” Mendros said.

He said the printing of receipt ballots may undergo obstacles that will only delay the tallying of votes.

The Comelec will also have to reconfigure over 92,500 secure digital (SD) cards to instruct the machines to print receipts.

“I would like to emphasize that the purpose of the automation law is to hasten the election process, but it is often defeated because of this requirement,” Mendros said.

With the recent SC ruling, he said Board of Election Inspectors (BEIs) across the country will have to be retrained.

“We are not yet ready but we are on the right track,” he said.