Comelec open to having 2 suppliers for OMR machine contracts

The Commission on Elections was open to having more than one supplier for the Optical Mark Reader (OMR) machines that will be used in the 2016 elections, Comelec Spokesman James Jimenez said on Tuesday.

Jimenez explained further that it was possible to have two suppliers given that the bidding for the over 90,000 OMR units would be divided into two lots, with no restrictions to having two different supplies for each lot.

The bidding for the first lot is scheduled for June 23 and will cover the contract for 23,000 OMR units with an increased working budget of P2.5 billion. The increase was made after the Special Bids and Awards Committee (SBAC) failed to find a qualified bidder during the first round.

The bidding for the second lot, meanwhile, is scheduled for June 29 and will cover the remaining 70,977 units with a working budget of P7.87 billion. The bidding for the second lot also covers ballot box sets, ballots for ballot printing services and technical support personnel. The SBAC released an invitation to bid for the second lot on Tuesday.

The bidding process for OMR units is among the Comelec's options for the 2016 national elections with the other being the refurbishment of the previously used Precinct Count Optical Scan machines.— Andrei Medina, GMA News