Final testing of vote machines on May 6

CEBU, Philippines – The Commission on Election (Comelec) is scheduled to conduct a final testing and sealing of Vote Counting Machines three days before the elections on May 6.

Lawyer Elesio Labaria, office-in-charge of the Provincial Comelec, said the activity will be conducted simultaneously in different gymnasiums or auditoriums across the country.

The purpose of the FTS is to test how the VCMs function, including their accuracy, security and completeness.

On this day, sample votes will be cast and the VCM will generate copies of the results.

Labaria said the ballot coming from VCM will be checked by the board of election inspectors and will be counted manually. All the receipts produced by the VCMs will be signed by the BEIs and will be put inside an envelope and sealed. The BEIs will also sign the envelope, keep it, and send the same to Comelec central office in Manila.

Labaria said the ballot box should be emptied after final testing and sealing. This also goes to the VCMs, which should be ready for election day.

Aside from the BEIs, also included during the FTS are the VCM technicians, support staff, watchers, Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), and the Cebu Citizens Involvement and Maturation for People Empowerment and Liberation or C-CIMPEL.

Labaria said the FTS is to test how the VCMs function as they are expected to function.

"Atong i-test ang functionality of the machines. I-test nato ang peripherals naa ba kumpleto, procedure sa BEI sakto ba… makita nato nga mokaon ba og balota ang VCM, sakto ba ang resulta nga mogawas," Labaria said.

After the FTS, the VCMs will be put inside its box and seal it. The machines will be keep on rooms or at the principal's office or even in the Municipal social halls and should be guarded 24/7 until the day of the delivery to its respective polling place.

Before the FTS, VCMs are scheduled to be delivered to different LGUs, starting May 4. While on May 8, the day before the polls, will be the final checking of the ballots and paraphernalia including the delivery to different polling place.  —/JMO (FREEMAN)