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Poll chief: Overseas voting will remain manual


MANILA, Philippines - Elections Chairman Jose Melo said Thursday that the overseas absentee voting is not included in the automation of the May 2010 presidential polls. Melo explained that the overseas voting would remain in manual mode since it would be too expensive to send automated machines abroad. “The old system… posibleng manual pa rin kasi masyado silang disperse. Magpapadala ka ng isang makina sa isang lugar tapos ilan lang ang boboto," Melo told reporters. Under the overseas absentee voting, Filipinos abroad can vote either through the Philippine embassies in host countries or through voting by mail. Traditionally, the OAV is being done about a month earlier than the regular mid-May elections in the country so that it can make it in time for the national canvassing of votes. Melo said the OAV was not included in the Terms of Reference that was contested by seven bidders for the P11.3 billion poll automation project won by Smartmatic/Total Information Management Inc. But according to Comelec-Committee on OAV (COAV) Chairman Commissioner Nicodemo Ferrer, they will still be discussing the matter with the commission en banc and Smartmatic/TIM. - GMANews.TV
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