Comelec to use OMR system for 2010 polls

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has decided to use the Optical Mark Reader (OMR) for the 2010 presidential elections. Poll chairman Jose Melo said Monday that the Commission en banc opted to adopt the recommendations of the technical advisory council. “The commission has already decided that it will be OMR,” Melo said. He however stressed that the decision to use OMR was not based on practicality as earlier claimed by poll watchdog chief Henrietta de Villa of the National Citizens Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel). He explained that the main consideration taken by Comelec and the advisory council in choosing OMR was the presence of paper trail, paper audit and proof of voting. “At least (with OMR), may pruweba tayo na bumoto talaga yung tao [We have proof that people really voted],” Melo said. He added that the limited budget is the “secondary consideration” of the council and the commission since their allocation was only P11.9 billion. In the OMR system, voters will shade blank ovals beside the candidates’ names before the ballots are tabulated by counting machines. The system was used in the last Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) polls. Melo meanwhile assured that there would a "level playing field" when the commission holds its bidding for the system. Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said they are now in the process of finalizing the Request for Proposal (RFP) document, which is the first step of the bidding process, and could release it sometime next month. - GMANews.TV