Comelec conducts voting process simulation

Using about 150 of its employees, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Monday conducted a mini-simulation of the voting procedure at the poll body office to test whether the process would be efficient during the 2010 automated elections. According to Teofisto Elnas, director of the Comelec Election and Barangay Affairs Department, the simulation will determine which part of the voting process needs to be changed or adjusted. “Mahalaga ito (This is important) now that we are (giving our input) to the en banc concerning the voting procedure," Elnas told reporters in an interview, adding that this will also affect the content of the general instructions that the poll body will be releasing.

Elnas said the procedure would entail a voter first checking his or her name on the registered list of voters, entering the precinct, verifying his or her identify, signing on the list of voters, getting a ballot, writing on the ballot, feeding it to the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machine, and staining his or her finger. The poll body expects each voter to complete the process in eight minutes or less, which means it hopes to process 120 to 150 voters per hour, Elnas said. Aside from this simulation, the poll body official said they still plan to conduct a full-blown simulation on November 28 at a public school in Metro Manila. Meanwhile, Elnas said they also plan to send out before the elections voter information sheets indicating each voter’s precinct number and the list of candidates in the area. Earlier, the Comelec also announced that it will be coming out with colored ballots to make voting easier. [See: Comelec to use colored ballots in 2010 polls] Elnas said the Comelec is doing a lot of things to intensify its voter’s information campaign, but added that voters should do their part as well. “Voters should know their candidates before entering the precinct," he said. Comelec figures indicate that as of July 2009, more than 45 million were considered qualified to vote in the 2010 elections. Comelec Chairman Jose Melo, however, said that even without the final tally of registered voters, they can peg the current number at about 47 to 48 million. - Kimberly Jane T. Tan, GMANews.TV