Around 200 malfunctioning voting machines replaced for Eleksyon 2025 —Comelec

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) replaced at least 200 automated counting machines (ACMs) due to malfunction, poll chief George Erwin Garcia said Monday.

“Mayroon tayong more or less 200 machines na kinakailangan palitan. Hindi naman huminto pero napapansin namin nakaka-dalawang beses nag-reject,” Garcia told reporters.

(At least 200 ACMs were replaced. They did not stop from working but they rejected ballots twice.)

“Kaagad nagdesisyon ang aming operations center na i-pull out ang machines at palitan ito ng bago para hindi maging worse pa,” he said.

(We decided to pull out the machines.)

Reports of malfunctioning ACMs were monitored during Eleksyon 2025, including in Cebu, where five ACMs failed to work properly at the Lahug Elementary School but were resolved immediately by the authorized technicians.

Technical issues with several vote-counting machines also disrupted the early hours of voting at GB Lontok Memorial Integrated School in Lipa City, Batangas.

“16,000 ang contingency natin. In fact nung 2022, umaga pa lang 2,500 na makina na ang pinapalitan. Of course, mga lumang makina yan. Ang sa amin preventive measure, kahit di pa sira ang makina pero nagpapakita na ng indication, pinu-pull out na agad,” said Garcia.

(We have 16,000 contingency ACMs. In fact, in 2022 we pulled out 2,500 voting machines during the early hours of voting. Of course, those are old voting machines. Now, we replaced the ACMs as a preventive measure.)

LENTE

Earlier, the Legal Network for Truthful Elections (LENTE) reported about technical issues of some ACMs in various parts of the country. 

“The most common problem involved sensitive scanners that frequently rejected ballots. In these instances, the Electoral Board had to temporarily pause operations to clean the scanner, resulting in delays and long queues,” LENTE said.

In a precinct in Zamboanga del Sur, the ACM started rejecting ballots at around 5:30 a.m. and remained unresolved at 6:56 a.m.

“Voters were allowed to fill out their ballots but were informed that their ballots would be temporarily set aside and fed into the ACM once operational,” LENTE said.

It also noted that some voting centers in Ilocos Sur, Cagayan, Negros Oriental, Bohol, Aklan, and Lanao Del Norte experienced the same issues.

In a precinct in Santa Cruz, Laguna, a Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail was jammed, but the electoral board resolved the issue.

“While most voting centers where LENTE monitors were deployed began preparations on time, technical and procedural issues must be addressed swiftly to avoid disenfranchisement and reinforce public trust in the electoral process,” LENTE said. —VAL, GMA Integrated News

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