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

In a report by Darlene Cay on the #Eleksyon2024 special coverage of GMA Integrated News, just within the first two hours of the voting period, some automated counting machines (ACMs) began malfunctioning. 

In Cluster Precinct 211, initial attempts to print receipts produced blank outputs. 

According to Electoral Board Chairman Ramil Gonzales, receipts had to be reprinted two to three times before they showed the correct information. Each time, he had to manually insert the smartkey to retry the printing process.

Gonzales said the ACMs functioned normally during initialization and showed no issues during the final testing and sealing. 

The unexpected malfunction has caused lines to build up outside the precinct. This raisies concerns among voters about possible long delays if the issue persists throughout the day.

Despite the inconvenience, Gonzales assured voters that the integrity of the vote remains intact, as each voter is still able to review their printed receipt before final submission.

However, he acknowledged concerns over running out of thermal paper potentially if the reprinting persists throughout the day.

COMELEC technical personnel and DESO technicians have been contacted to fix the problem.

The voting in Cluster Precinct 211 was earlier delayed by about 20 minutes due to the malfunctioning ACM, which had also ejected ballots and printed blank receipts just before the polls opened.

Around 16,000 voters are expected to cast their ballots at the school today.

(with reports from Darlene Cay, GMA Integrated News)