Comelec supplier: Poll results out in 24 hours

Election results in areas using automated counting machines (ACMs) in the May 2004 polls will be known in 24 hours, the equipment supplier of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said.

Lawyer Alfredo Lazaro Jr., spokesman for Mega Pacific Consortium (MPC), said one vote-counting machine can read at least 50 ballots per minute and can accommodate 400 ballots per loading.

"Its reading speed capability is complemented by its 100 percent reading accuracy as certified by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST)," Lazaro added.

Human intervention is also limited to only one authorized election officer and Comelec commentator, who will be furnished with a unique USB key with predefined "Verisign" 128-bit digital certificate and 16-digit personal identification number.

The DOST issued the certification after conducting rigid testing and evaluation of the ACMs brought into the country by the South Korean partner of Mega Pacific.

"Certainly, the verification test showed that the machine is 100 percent accurate in reading and counting votes from ballots that are properly shaded, provided that the ballots are fed with the right orientation," said Director Rolando Villoria, chief of the DOST Metals Industries Research and Development Center (MIRDC).

"Hence, we can safely conclude that the machine has a 100 percent accuracy rating on all environmental conditions," he said.

Lazaro also said that the reading speed and accuracy of the machines could be attributed to its capability to read a two-sided ballot in one scanning operation.

He said that once data are stored, they are totaled, consolidated, encrypted and saved on compact discs.

"While writing encrypted data on CDs, it can print seven copies of election returns in one operation," Lazaro added.

With the use of Magnetic Ink Character Recognition coding, the supplier also claimed that the machine can detect fake, spurious and previously read ballots.

"This mechanism can definitely thwart plans for dagdag-bawas operation," Lazaro further said.

Congress has approved the use of ACMs in selected areas of the country upon the recommendation of Comelec for its modernization program.