Comelec still unsure if ARMM elections will use PCOS tech

MANILA, Philippines - The elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) in August 2011 will be automated but the Commission on Elections (Comelec) still has to determine whether or not it will utilize the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines used in the May 10 polls.

In an interview, Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal said the agency would have to study if the PCOS technology would be adopted in the ARMM polls or if it would still look for another automated election system (AES).

“That is being discussed now – what to do in preparation for the ARMM elections which are just a few months away. There are still a lot of things that need to be done,” he said.

The Comelec yesterday convened the technical working group to discuss the preparations for the ARMM elections and the mid-term polls in 2013.

In the ARMM elections in 2008, the Comelec tried two AES – the direct recording electronics and the optical mark reader (OMR) – as a prelude to the automation of the May 10, 2010 local and national polls where the agency used PCOS, the improved version of OMR.

In the ARMM polls, the governor, vice governor and several assemblymen will be elected.

Larrazabal said that although the Comelec purchased 920 PCOS machines, it does not mean that these would be used in the ARMM polls.

He said the procurement of the PCOS machines at P25 million was for them to be used in hearing the electoral protest cases filed in connection with the May 10 elections.

“The ARMM elections have to be automated as required by the law. As for the technology, we don’t know yet… I don’t want to preempt the en banc,” he added.