The Commission on Elections was quick to dispel rumors that the May 2010 elections may be marred by chaos since the delivery of counting machines that will be used has been delayed.
Instead, the chief of the poll body’s legal department predicted that the 82,000 machines may be delivered “way ahead of schedule.”
While lawyer Ferdinand Rafanan admitted that Smartmatic-TIM was not able to deliver the first 42,000 units it had committed to produce by today, the entire number of machines may be at hand well before Feb. 28.
The agency’s chairman, Jose Melo, is even more optimistic and says that all machines will be in by the first week of February.
Rafanan explains the initial delay by saying that the manufacturing firm only started assembling the machines on Dec. 4, and that only one assembly line, which can produce 500 units a day, has been operational.
He adds, however, that four more assembly lines will be in place by next month.
An Asia-Pacific political risk consultancy group, Pacific Strategies and Assessment, says the May elections is “a disaster waiting to happen,” with the delay in machine delivery, among other snags, acting as an “explosive ingredient.”
“There are simply too many potential human, procedural and/or technical breakdowns that could lead to a major disruption or most drastically a complete failure of the May 2010 elections,” the group added.
This is the first time automation will be used on a nationwide scale. The delivery of the machines, their testing and transport to all precincts are just the first crucial steps to doing things right. Teachers and other users still have to be educated in the use of these unfamiliar machines. We hope the Comelec’s optimism is not contrived and that it is really capable of doing things on schedule.
The urgency of the election’s success cannot be overemphasized. Automation will enable the people to worry less about their votes being counted correctly and focus more on choosing the candidates that best stand for progress and change.
The Comelec should never, even for a moment, be lost as to what is happening and what to do. The public, on the other hand, must be on guard this early. We welcome the New Year hoping that the country will finally be heading in the right direction.
