Comelec: 98,000 voting machines ‘unserviceable’

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has declared the vote counting machines or VCM used in the 2016, 2019 and 2022 elections as “unserviceable.”

In an interview with “The Chiefs” on Cignal TV’s One News Thursday night, Comelec spokesman John Rex Laudiangco said the 98,000 VCMs could no longer be used even if offered to other government agencies, which could use these for licensure and civil service examinations.

These machines, he added, have already exceeded the lifespan of five years and that the Comelec could neither find a supplier for spare parts nor refurbish them.

Laudiangco noted that 1,600 of the VCMs are totally broken, 800 of which conked out on election day.

With the number of election precincts in the country expected to grow to 127,000 during the 2025 elections, he said the Comelec could not risk using the VCMs.

Since the VCMs have been declared unusable, the Comelec hopes Congress could approve soon its proposed budget for the purchase of new machines, which is made based on specifications by the agency, Laudiangco said.

Laudiangco said the poll body targets to use a machine that is capable of two technologies – optical mark reader (OMR) that will read votes stamped on ballots and direct recording electronics (DRE) that will use touchscreen technology. The OMR could be used in national and local elections, while the DRE could be tapped in election processes that require few voters or few choices for voters like plebiscites and special elections.

Once approved, he said the Comelec could start its preparations for the proposed overhaul in the election system this year, starting with the competitive public bidding.

He did not disclose the Comelec’s proposed budget, but said the agency is “optimistic” the government would grant its proposed budget, even in two tranches.

Meanwhile, the (Comelec) has assured the public that it would finish identifying around 500,000 “flying voters” before the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan polls scheduled in October.

In a statement yesterday, Comelec Chairman George Garcia said the poll body would “expose” violators and the areas that registered double or multiple registrants.

This came after The STAR columnist Jarius Bondoc revealed in his column “Gotcha” that the voter record of Barangay Carmona in Makati, for instance, almost doubled due to the registration of “fake voters.”

Bondoc pointed out that from only 4,718 registered voters in the May 9, 2022 election, the figure went up to 8,415 with the registration of 3,697 “faker voters” for the upcoming polls.

Of the 3,697 new voters, 497 have been challenged before the Makati City election officer and at the same time expressed they wanted to withdraw their voter registration through affidavits, he added.

The new voters – who would be paid by an aspiring barangay candidate – came from nearby cities and provinces in Luzon and carried information from fictitious companies, he also alleged.

However, Makati City election officer Anthonette Aceret said only 11 of the 497 withdrew, while the other affidavits of withdrawal have been filed before the barangay as mandated by the Comelec.

The Election Registration Board is examining the voter applications and is conducting an Automated Fingerprint Identification System cleansing to ensure there are no double or multiple registrants in the database, Aceret added.

Garcia appealed for the updating of laws that would impose punishment on flying voters.