Gov't begins evaluating automated systems for next election

The Comelec Advisory Council (CAC) started last week the evaluation process of the various election technologies with an Automated Election System (AES) technology exposition held at the lobby of the Information and Communications Technology Office (ICTO) in Diliman, Quezon City.

The two-day event showcased various election technology providers, their AES technologies, and equipment to the CAC as part of the council’s mandate to select the most suitable technology for the 2013 Election.

Among the technology providers present at the demo were Avante, Hart InterCivic and ES&S from the US, DVS Korea, Spanish company Indra, Software Improvements Pty Ltd from Australia, and UK headquartered Smartmatic, providers of PCOS machines used in the 2010 elections.

Also on hand were representatives from the Comelec CCS (consolidation canvassing system) who gave a presentation to the CAC on the Comelec’S current CCS.

CAC chair and ICTO executive director Louis Casambre said the AES technologies that were presented in the event were very mature and have proven track records in elections held in other countries.

“The council will be very thorough in evaluating the merits and limitations of each type of technology to ensure that the technology that we will recommend is the most appropriate for the upcoming election,” Casambre said.

The CAC provided the technology providers with a list of questions and requirements for their various systems to accomplish as part of the screening process.

The council will again convene after the holidays to deliberate which technology it will recommend to the Comelec and submit its recommendation by the second week of January 2012.

RA 9369 tasks the CAC to recommend to the Comelec “the most appropriate, secure, applicable and cost-effective technology to be applied in the Automation Election System (AES)” for the 2013 elections. — Newsbytes.ph