Precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines will no longer be used to automatically verify ballots’ authenticity, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) told GMANews.TV on Wednesday.
Instead, the poll inspectors at the precinct level will read ballots’ ultraviolet markings through manual means by using an ultraviolet (UV) lamp, Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal said.
The poll body was prompted to resort to this move — considered as an additional step in the voting process — after ultraviolet markings on ballots were moving out of alignment due to the speed of the printing, Larrazabal said.
This could make it difficult for the voting machine to read the ballot, he added.
"Baka hindi mabasa. Mas mabuti na i-manual check (It might not be read. It's better to manually check it)," he said.
Larrazabal, who heads the Comelec steering committee on automation, said that the Board of Election Inspectors will instead use UV lamps to show the voters that their ballots are authentic before they vote.
"Sobrang dali lang naman nu'n (That is so easy)," he said.
The commissioner added that there are other security features that would prove the authenticity of the ballot.
Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said that the usual security features include a unique ballot paper, the poll body’s own UV ink, a bar code, Comelec markings, and the unique precinct-based numbers on the ballot.
The Liberal Party (LP), however, doubted this move.
"Bakit pinatay yung scanner sa (Why did they turn off the scanner of the) machine, we have strong reservations about it," said LP campaign manager Florencio "Butch" Abad in a press conference held in Intramuros, Manila.
He said that the people might become disoriented with this additional voting step.
"If you look at the process, you can more or less imagine the confusion and the chaos," he said. - RJAB Jr./JV, GMANews.TV
