People line up as Comelec launches its Register Anywhere and the Special Register Anywhere Program at the Comelec Headquarters in Intramuros, Manila on February 12, 2024. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News/File  

MANILA – A number of Automated Counting Machines (ACMs) performed ‘flawlessly’ during a test run conducted by the Commission on Elections in Batangas ahead of the 2025 midterm elections, an official reported Friday.

“Naging napakaganda po ng performance at ito nga po, ginagamit… sa kasalukuyan po, kami’y nasa Rizal College of Taal, Batangas po ‘no at sa init po ng panahon na ito ay gumana po flawlessly ang ating demonstration machine ng bagong ACM,” Comelec Spokesman Atty John Rex Laudiangco said. 

"Pinasubok nga po natin sa mga guro, sa mga mag-aaral at ilang opisyales ng pamahalaan dito at tuwang-tuwa po sila sa paggagana at maayos na sistema ng bagong makina," he said in a televised briefing.

(The performance of the machines were outstanding and at the moment, we, who were at the Rizal College of Taal, Batangas, and amidst the hot weather, [observed] that the demonstration machine of our new AMC has been working flawlessly. We let teachers, students and local government officials try this and they were very glad to see the efficience and effectivity of the new machine.) 

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Compared to previous Vote Counting Machines (VCMs) and Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines by Smartmatic, ACMs are faster and have better features, Laudiangco said.

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“Una po sa lahat, naging napakabilis po ng pagbasa ng ating makina – 200 millimeters per second kumpara doon sa dati na 70 millimeters per second lamang po. Ikalawa, ang kagandahan po dito, kung sa dating mga makina – iyong PCOS at VCM ay pagpasok po ng ating balota, hindi natin alam kung papaano binilang ang ating boto except sa resibo,” he said.

(Our machines have read the results quickly - at 200 mm/s compared to before which had 70 mm/s. Second, what makes this outstanding is that the old macines, the PCOS and then the VCM keeps voting transmission private except the reciept.)

"Dito po, may malaking screen kung saan ang botante pa lamang po, pagpasok niya ng balota, makikita niya ang imahe mismo ng balota at ang pagkakasuma kung papaano binilang iyong kaniyang balota – bukod pa sa hawak niyang mas malaking resibo. So iyong botante po ay hindi uuwi nang hindi niya alam kung papaano binasa ang kaniyang boto.”

(Here you could see a big screen where the voters can see the image of the ballot and the summary of how they counted their votes, aside from the huge receipt they have. Voters will not go home without knowing how their votes are interpreted.)

ACMs will have 6 servers for better transparency, the official said.

“Magtatayo po tayo ng anim na servers kasama ang media, ang Comelec, ang PPCRV, ang NAMFREL, ang dominant majority party at dominant minority party kung saan, iyong server po ng Comelec naka-mirror sa Department of Information and Communications Technology, real time, bukod pa po sa ia-upload namin na real time din sa election results website. So, ating mga kababayan po, kada presinto, kada pumapasok ang resulta ng halalan ay makikita at sabay-sabay po ito,” he said.

(We will install 6 servers including the media, the Comelec, the PPCRV and the NAMFREL, the dominant majority party and the dominant minority party, where the Comelec's servers mirror those of the DICT, real time, aside from those we will download on the election results website. So our countrymen can watch the results get transmitted in real time.)

“Ang isa pang pinakamahalagang feature po ng makina nito ay pagkatapos po ng botohan, kami’y nakapag-imprenta na ng unang walong election return, nakapag-transmit ng resulta at naimprenta na rin iyong 22 pa na election return – isa-isang ipapakita sa malaking screen na iyan ang bawat balota na binasa ng makina,” Laudiangco added.

(One of the most important features is that by the time voting is finished, we will be able to imprint the first eight election returns, and that of the 22 election returns, which will be displayed on the big screen.)

“Sabi nga po ni Chairman Garcia, puwedeng piktyuran, puwedeng i-video nang sa ganoon mano-mano nating maitara at maikumpara sa resultang hawak na papel, sa resultang nai-transmit sa mga servers at higit sa lahat, sa resultang makikita sa election results website.”

(Chairman Garcia said the paper can be photographed to compare those transmitted to the servers and the election results website.)

The Comelec clarified that there is no option for voters to correct any mistake in their ballot once it has been cast, noting that only one ballot has been allocated per voter.

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“Unless po ang problema po ay iyong mismong balota o iyong makina, doon lamang po magkakaroon ng pagkakataon na papalitan ang ating mga balota. Pero kung ang nagkamali po ay botante, paumanhin po, isa lamang pong balota ang ibibigay kada botante po. At kailangan pong ingatan natin, wala pong pagkakataon para palitan iyong inyong naboto, except iyong nabanggit ko po kanina – kinulang doon sa 12 senador, hindi nakumpleto, iyon lamang po ang may pagkakataong dagdagan para makumpleto po at mabuo iyong 12 senador na iboboto,” he said.

(Unless the problem is the ballot or the machine, there will be a chance to change our ballots and if there is a mistake, we would like to apologize but we can only give one ballot per voter, which they have to take care of except if voters fail to shade 12 options for senators, those are the only chances given to add and complete the voters' senators.)