THE AUTOMATED counting machines for two clustered polling precincts in Magallanes Elementary School undergo final test and sealing on Tuesday, May 6, ahead of the May 12 National and Local Elections.
The activity aimed to evaluate the competency, readiness, and accuracy of the machines, especially in counting ballots. The ACMs were all found to be working and ready.
Maria Lolita U. Buquia, Cluster 5 Electoral Board chairperson, told TIMES there were no major problems during the tests outside of paper jams and ballot detection, which were resolved immediately.
Ten voters, from the observers including poll watchers and barangay officials of 1-A and 2-A, cast their ballots using the machines, and their votes were manually verified and compared to the ACM results.
Buquia said this is to ensure that the votes counted by the machine are accurate compared to the votes cast by the voters.
Voters are given 15 seconds for the front page and five seconds for the back page to check the preview of their ballot.
During the mock voting, one of the voters intentionally over-voted, and the machine rejected the ballot.
Buquia reminded the observers to vote correctly and avoid tampering with the ballots for a smooth flow on election day.
No transmission was done during the FTS, and Buquia, along with support staff, sealed the ACMs after doing “re-zero.”
Re-zero is done after the mock voting and counting of ballots to ensure the ACM has no votes left and is ready to use for the election day.
After the testing, the ACMs were sealed and stored at the Office of the Department of Education Supervisor Official to be safeguarded by the members of the Davao City Police Office until election day.
