Comelec sets demo for vote counting machines

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will conduct a three-month demonstration of the new automated counting machines (ACMs) to be used in the May 2025 midterm elections.

Comelec spokesman John Rex Laudiangco said yesterday they are planning to hold ACM demonstrations from December to February 2025.

“We will visit every city and municipality. Even if we can’t go to all 42,000 barangays because of operational limitations, we want to at least cluster them for the demonstrations,” Laudiangco said.

“We will use at least 2,000 ACMs for the demonstration,” he added.

According to Laudiangco, the demonstration aims to familiarize the voters with the ACMs.

“It will be the voters who will benefit from the demo. We want to introduce the ACMs to the people,” he said.

The Comelec field personnel and not its service provider, Miru Systems, will conduct the demonstrations, Laudiangco said.

The initial batch of ACMs arriving in August will be used to train the Comelec’s information technology personnel and election officers, he said.