Comelec Chairman George Garcia presides over the Raffle of Party-List Groups and Organizations or Coalitions' Order in the Official Ballot for the 2025 National and Local Elections held at the Chairman's Hall, Palacio del Gobernador, Intramuros, Manila  on October 18, 2024. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News/FileMANILA -- The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) on Saturday conducted its first public field testing for the 2025 midterm elections.

Twenty-eight areas across the country participated in the field testing, five of which were held overseas. 

COMELEC Chairman George Erwin Garcia together with representatives of poll watchdogs Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) and Legal Network for Truthful Elections (LENTE) led the monitoring, starting with the automated counting machines (ACMs). 

The machine testing was done at the Tipas Elementary School-Main in Taguig City which include diagnostic test, initialization report, printing of election returns, and transmission to servers. 

“So far successful naman. Ang gusto nating ipakita dito yung makina, yung mismong paghuhulog ng balota pa lang, pagbilang niya, pagsusuma total, pag-print ng election returns at pag-transmit,” Garcia said. 

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A canvassing area was also set up in Taguig Convention Center where votes from the school were transmitted in less than a minute. 

A stress test will be conducted to ensure that the machines and servers can withstand simultaneous transmissions. 

“Ngayon sinisigurado namin na walang mabubulunan… mula sa presinto, transmit sa municipal/city board of canvassers, media server, majority party, citizens arm, at saka naka-mirror sa’min ang DICT,” Garcia explained. 

Should there be transmission errors on election day, Garcia said the affected ACMs will be transported to canvassing centers. 

Over 110,000 ACMs will be used in the 2025 elections from technology provider Miru systems — 6,000 of which are for back-up. 

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Around 7,000 Starlink satellite internet will be used by COMELEC as back-ups in far-flung areas with weak signal. 

Garcia hopes that the transparent process would lessen election protests. 

A mock elections will follow on the second week of December once the COMELEC secures its international certification from a third party entity as mandated by law. 

‘NUISANCE’ CANDIDATES 

Meanwhile, the COMELEC reported that 88 senatorial aspirants have been declared as nuisance candidates. 

Garcia said nuisance candidates can still appeal to the COMELEC en banc. If denied, they can appeal to the Supreme Court within 5 days. 

COMELEC targets to resolve all 117 nuisance cases of senatorial bets by next week. 

Comelec declares 70 senatorial aspirants as 'nuisance candidates' 

As of now, there are 66 valid candidates for senator. 

The poll body aims to complete the final list of candidates by Dec. 13 and the printing of ballots before yearend.