Comelec awards 2nd automation contract

An American-Filipino company was chosen by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to supply the optical mark reader (OMR) machines that will be used in five of the six provinces of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) during the Aug. 11 polls.

Comelec Chairman Jose Melo said Avanti International was able to “correct its deficiency,” enabling it to beat Active Business Solution (ABS) for the contract.

“It’s Avanti. The National Computer Center (NCC) and the Advisory Council (on Poll Automation) decided that Avanti met the standards. It was able to correct its deficiency on accuracy,” Melo told The STAR.

Avanti earlier failed two trials when its machines read even photocopied or fake ballots.

But Melo noted that on the third trial, the company’s machines posted 99.95-percent accuracy rate, getting the nod of the NCC and the advisory council.

Melo claimed that ABS performed its third demonstration the other day but again failed. Had ABS also passed the test, the Comelec was thinking of dividing the five ARMM provinces between the two companies.

The OMR machines will be used in Lanao del Sur, Shariff Kabunsuan, Basilan, Tawi-Tawi and Sulu.

Last week, the Comelec inked a P525-million contract with the Netherlands-based Smartmatic-Sahi Technologies Inc. to supply the direct recording electronics (DRE) machines that will be used in Maguindanao.

OMR is a voting system where the candidates’ names are printed on ballots with corresponding ovals. The voters merely have to shade the ovals of their chosen candidates.

The DRE machines, on the other hand, will contain the names and photographs of the candidates and voters can choose their bets by touching their corresponding boxes on the computer screen.

With the OMR, poll results are expected within 24 hours after the voting, while DRE will take only one hour. – With Mayen Jaymalin, Cecille Suerte Felipe