The Commission on Elections said the refurbishing of the vote-counting machines that will be used in next year’s synchronized national and local polls was already 80 percent complete.
“The final delivery will be on November 15 based on their records. They are already 80 percent finished. These refurbished machines are enough for the 1,000 voter cluster precincts so that is why we need to have an additional 10,000 to lower it to 800 voter cluster precincts,” Comelec Commissioner Marlon Casquejo said on Monday during the Senate deliberation on the proposed P26.728 billion budget of the poll body.
“We have no problems with the refurbishment,” he added as Senator Risa Hontiveros asked for an update of the P637.4-million deal with Smartmatic to refurbish the VCMs.
Smartmatic has been the country’s poll technology provider since 2010 when it shifted to electronic voting.
Earlier, the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management for the Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) allowed the simulation voting in San Juan City on October 23.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said the IATF-EID approved Comelec’s request on the one-day voting simulation exercise amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
On September 19, the Comelec also conducted a voting simulation in Pasay City.
The Comelec earlier said the simulation was vital to “determine the policy and process on how the election shall be conducted” amid the pandemic.
The simulation exercise, the poll body said, also aims to ensure strict health protocols for Filipino voters who will participate in the 2022 national and local elections.