Comelec to test touchscreen machines in Pateros

MANILA, Philippines - Voters from Pateros are likely be the first to use touchscreen voting machines in the 2016 national elections, an official said yesterday.

James Jimenez, Commission on Elections (Comelec) spokesman, said they are looking at Pateros as the site for the pilot testing of the Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) voting technology in 2016.

“Why DRE in Pateros? It is very small, very manageable, very compact…so it is good as a pilot area,” he said.

With the DRE machines, voters can select their preferred candidates by merely touching the screen. The process is fully automated from voting to counting and final transmission of results to the canvassing centers at the provincial and regional levels, he said.

According to Jimenez, Pateros has about 24,000 to 28,000 registered voters, which is suited for the 410 DRE machines the Comelec leased for P32.58 million.

No other local government unit aside from Pateros fits their requirements. “Other LGUs have a huge number of voters so they won’t fit the requirements,” he said.

For the 2016 polls, the Comelec is set to use the old precinct count optical scan machines and optical mark reader units as part of the the primary automated election system.