Palace okays Comelec plan to buy vote counting machines

President Arroyo approved yesterday a plan of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to acquire P1.8 billion worth of automated counting machines.

Executive Secretary Alberto Romulo said the electoral modernization program is part of Mrs. Arroyo’s commitment to ensure clean and honest elections before she steps down from office in June next year.

"As far as the Comelec is concerned, represented by Chairman Abalos, he said to the Cabinet in the presence of the members of the commission that there would be first priority to the counting and tabulation of votes," Romulo said.

"Then the next priority is registration and transmission. In the first priority which is counting and tabulation of votes. (Abalos) estimated the cost to be more or less P1.8 billion."

Abalos and the poll body’s commissioners presented the electoral modernization plan to Mrs. Arroyo and the Cabinet in Malacañang yesterday.

Abalos told Mrs. Arroyo and the Cabinet the Comelec will target the completion of advanced tabulation of nationwide results within 48 hours at the "utmost" after the elections.

"Accordingly, efforts are being taken to automate the consolidation process," he said.

The Malacañang press office said Abalos had sought an additional P1 billion on top of the P2.5 billion, which Mrs. Arroyo had earlier released for the computerization of next year’s elections.

The press office said Mrs. Arroyo had agreed with Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Avelino Cruz Jr. that priority should be given to the procurement of automated counting machines.

The second priority is data transmission, and third would be registration of voters in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and the rest of the country, the press office added.

Apart from Abalos, Luzviminda Tancangco and other Comelec commissioners, the Cabinet meeting was also attended by Jose Concepcion, chairman of Barangay Forbes Park in Makati, and head of the National Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel).

Concepcion spearheaded the filing of the failed impeachment complaint against Tancangco before the House of Representatives.