The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has arranged demonstrations in a bid to educate the public on the features of the Automated Counting Machines (ACM) for the 2025 polls.
Comelec Region XI Assistant Regional Director Atty. Gay Enumerables, in an interview over Madayaw Davao on Monday, said that they have focused on demonstrations and roadshows.
The demos started on December 2 in various areas of the country and will run until the end of January 2025.
“Last Saturday, we had a voter education and ACM demonstration at the Daniel R. Aguinaldo National High School (DRANHS) in Matina,” Enumerables said, adding that Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia spearheaded the event and discussed the features of the machine.
Enumerables said that the new machines are different from the Precinct Count Optical Scanner (PCOS) and Vote Counting Machine (VCM)
“Although the machine looks the same, daghan og features ang naa karon nga wala sa previous machine nga ginagamit (Although the machine looks the same, there are added features that were not present in the previous machine),” Enumerables said.
She added that the new machine has a wider screen at 14 inches and is also capable of scanning election receipts and creating a summary of the results.
“Faster siya sa previous machines, naa siya’y copies, screen shots of ballots nga na cast didto sa makina (It is faster than the previous machines, it has copies, screen shots of the ballots cast on the machine),” Enumerables said.
She said that the new machines are fitted with lithium batteries, which can last up to three days on full charge.
“Every municipality, city, regional office has one unit assigned for the voter education roadshow and demonstration. The target of the Comelec is to go to even the most remote barangay to conduct voter’s education and ACM Demo,” she said.
“Naa na’y schedule ang election officers to conduct the ACM demonstration and voters’ education (The election officers already have schedule for the conduct of the ACM demonstration and voters education),” Enumerables said. She encouraged Dabawenyos to visit their barangay during the demo schedule
She said that they will also be conducting demos at the malls to showcase the new machine.
“Hulat-hulaton lang nato ang schedule (We’ll just have to wait for the schedule),” she said.
Enumerables added important dates to remember for the elections.
January 12 will be the start of the election period; February 11 will be the start of the campaign period for national positions; and March 28 will be the start of the campaign period for local positions. CIO
