THE Commission on Elections on Friday approved on-screen verification on vote counting machines to be used in the May elections, but stood firm against issuing printed receipts, saying if the Supreme Court forced its hand, poll preparations would be set back.
In a press conference, Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista said the on-screen verification could prolong the voting period on May 9, but said the commissioners decided to be more transparent so that the public would be less doubtful about the accuracy of the election results.
“There is a bit of a gamble on this. We [hope we] can show the people that there is no hocus-PCOS here,” Bautista said, using the tag used by critics of the old precinct count optical scan machines used in the 2010 and 2013 elections.
The on-screen verification will flash a verification of how a voter voted for 15 seconds.
“After weighing the risks and benefits in the use of the on-screen verification functionality, the Commission on Elections has decided to err on the side of transparency, notwithstanding these attendant risks,” the Comelec said in a resolution dated March 3.
Bautista said they were still studying if on-screen verification would necessitate longer voting hours.
Earlier the Comelec announced that voting hours would be from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., which was two hours shorter than they were in 2013.
At the same time, Bautista said the timeline for the automated election system was very tight, with only two months before Election Day on May 9.
Earlier, senatorial candidate and former senator Richard Gordon petitioned the Supreme Court to compel the Comelec to activate a security feature that would have the voting machines issue printed receipts.
If the ruling goes against them, this could set back the poll body’s preparations, Bautista said.
“In truth, it is very tight already. But we will cross that bridge if we get there,” he said.
The Comelec had decided not to use printed receipts because it said vote buyers could use it to verify how a voter voted. It also said printing the receipts would add to the voting time.
But Gordon, the author of the Automated Election Law, asked the Supreme Court to stop the Comelec, saying a printed receipt was a minimum security requirement under the law.
The Supreme Court has yet to release its decision.