Sealing and testing of voting machine in Dubai  

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) conducted the final testing and sealing of the Vote-Counting Machine (VCM) to be used by registered overseas voters at the Philippine Consulate General in Dubai and the Northern Emirates on Thursday night.

In a video posted online by journalist Janice Ponce de Leon of Gulf News, a Dubai-based English language newspaper, officials unboxed the VCM and activated it before leaders of the Filipino community.

Overseas absentee voting will start on Saturday, April 9 and will go on until election day on May 9.

The VCM box contained rolls of thermal paper for the printing of vote receipts, official markers, headset, AC adapters and 2 SD cards (one serves as a back-up). It also has three security pins which will be given to the chairman and two members of the Board of Election Inspectors.

Like in previous automated elections, the voter will fully shade the oval box beside the name of his preferred candidate and will personally insert the ballot into the VCM in the presence of poll watchers, if applicable.

The voter will then wait for the VCM to print a vote receipt to enable him to check whether his vote was accurately read by the machine. 

Voters are not allowed to take the receipt out of the polling center. The receipts will be placed in a bin provided.

Maricar Jara, a reporter of Sharjah-based newspaper Gulf Today, was among those who cast her ballot in the mock elections that was held to test the VCM. She said it took her only around five minutes to complete the process.

Susan Francisco of Migrante party-list gave the VCM a thumbs. She said she deliberately made erroneous entries in her ballot and the VCM red-flagged the errors.

“Naka-note yung maling boto, kung kulang yung boto,” she said.

Taking pictures or selfies of actual voting will not be allowed and so is taking  pictures of the ballot. — APG, GMA News