DAVAO CITY – The final testing and sealing of the vote counting machines (VCMs) in the city will be done four days before local and national elections on May 9.
Jonard Tambajador, Election Assistant II of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) Davao, said the test will be scheduled at 8:00 am on May 5, and will be conducted at different polling centers here.
“The Board of Elections Inspectors (BEI) will man the FTS (final testing and sealing) but we in the Comelec will monitor it,” he told Davao Today in an interview on Friday, April 29.
Based on Comelec Resolution No. 9981, the testing and sealing of VCMs will be done from May 2 to 6 nationwide.
“Atong i-diagnose ang machine, i-check kung naa bay mga aberya, that time pwede nato ma-advise kung unsa ang mga problema (We will diagnose the machine and check whether there are glitches so we will know if there is a problem),” said Tambajador.
He said that if there are glitches in the machine there will still be “enough time” to replace it.
“For example, if it is the machine that has a problem we still have enough time to replace it. That is the purpose of the FTS,” he said.
Back-up battery
If in case a power interruption occurs during the elections, Tambajador said that the VCM has a back-up battery which can last up to 16 hours.
“So there is enough time to count the ballots,” he said.
He said one vote counting machine is used in each clustered precinct.
Tambajador encouraged voters to participate in the elections.
“Kung importante atong buhaton pwede sa nato biyaan para moadto ta sa atoang mga precincts. Gawas ta sa balay para moboto (If we have very important things to do, let’s leave it for awhile to go to our polling precincts. Let’s go out and vote),” he said. (davaotoday.com)
