311 ACM issues in Eleksyon 2025 lower compared to previous polls - Comelec head

The Commission on Elections reported at least 311 machine-related issues during the 2025 Philippine elections— a number that Comelec Chairperson George Garcia believes to be relatively lower compared to similar incidents in previous national polls. 

Garcia made the statement during a press conference an hour before Eleksyon 2025 ended, as he addressed concerns raised against the automated counting machines (ACMs). 

“As compared to the 2022 elections where during the first few hours of the voting 2,500 kaagad ang pinalitan ng (that were immediately replaced by the) Comelec, in all fairness, 311 lang ang pinalitan na makina (only 311 machines were replaced),” Garcia said.

“For the entire day, the commission was able to replace 311 machines out of the 16,000 contingency machines that we have,” he disclosed. 

According to data provided by Garcia, the issues they recorded are the following:

• 5 ACMs
• 13 ACM cover
• 77 ACM scanner
• 11 ACM screens
• 5 ballots
• 8 manual audit
• 2 operational concerns
• 1 procedural 
• 1 smart card
• 60 thermal cutter
• 35 thermal paper
• 73 thermal printer
• 10 USB devices

“We have not encountered major issues because, again, we have 16,000 contingency machines,” Garcia assured.

The Comelec chief then appealed to the public not to spread misinformation about the conduct of the elections. 

“Yung iba po talaga ay mga misinformation… Sana naman po ‘wag naman nila abusuhin ang social media. Unfair naman po sa mga kababayan natin na bumoto at nagpakahirap kanina,” Garcia said. 

(Some are just misinformation... they should not abuse social media. This is unfair to our countrymen who voted and endured today.)

Voting closed at 7:00 p.m. today, but Garcia said voters who are queuing within 30 meters from the polling precincts may still cast their ballots.

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.

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.—RF, GMA Integrated News

For more Eleksyon 2025 related content and updates, visit GMA News Online's Eleksyon 2025 microsite.