Long ballots may cause trouble on election day, says IT expert

The use of long paper ballots may cause trouble during the first nationwide automated elections in May, according to an information technology expert. Pablo Manalastas said the plan of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to use 30-inch-long ballots might cause privacy problems on election day. “Ballots are supposed to be handed out to voters inside a secrecy folder. But with the length of these ballots, the privacy folders may not be able to provide enough privacy to the voters," he said at a forum held at the Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City on Saturday. The length of the ballots may also result in technical problems during the automated polls, according to Manalastas. “Extremely long ballots can easily jam the scanner machines. This may delay or even halt voting during the election day," he said. But the use of 30-inch ballots has not yet been finalized. The poll body is still in the process of finalizing the contents and length of the ballot, a Comelec official said. “Ballots are currently being printed and tested. The final list of candidates will still be out hopefully by next week, and we need this to finalize the ballots," Gregorio Larrazabal, one of the commissioners of the poll body said during the same forum. Comelec technical consultant Tato Garcia added that the poll body was making sure that the length of the ballots would not cause machine trouble. “The tests are always done based on the maximum size of the ballots." The Comelec earlier said the ballots that it would print would contain a maximum of 600 names with an estimated to measure of about 20 to 25 inches long and 8 ½ inches wide. [SEE: Additional voters for 2010 to be like chance passengers] - ANDREO C. CALONZO/ARCS, GMANews.TV