RP posts test, seal voting machines in HK, Singapore

The Commission on Elections finalized Wednesday the testing and sealing of voting machines in Hong Kong and Singapore, three days before the scheduled start of the automated overseas absentee voting (OAV) in the two countries on April 10. The Philippine consulates in the two countries finalized the sealing and testing of Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines in preparation for the month-long voting by some 126,000 registered absentee voters. Hong Kong has the highest number of registered absentee voters at 95,355, while Singapore has 31,851. ‘Working fine’ In Hong Kong, the Philippine consulate said the machines are “working fine." A total of ten ballots were fed into each of the 20 machines to be used in the special Chinese territory to count the votes. The votes were also manually counted and cross-checked with the results produced from the machines. The machines were then sealed, to be opened only on April 10 at the start of the OAV. Consul Victorio Dimagiba, who heads the consulate’s OAV secretariat, said Hong Kong registered the highest voter turnout for absentee voters at 60 percent during the 2007 elections. They are hoping for a higher turnout this year at about 80 to 85 percent, especially as voters are also choosing the next President, Dimagiba added. A total of 20 machines will be used in Hong Kong to represent 20 precincts, and Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal is expected to monitor the elections there. Voting will be conducted daily for 31 days at a rented center in Bayanihan Kennedy Town Center along Kennedy Town’s Victoria Road. 7 machines in Singapore In Singapore, seven machines will be used, while around 30 staff from the Philippine Embassy will serve as Board of Election Inspectors from April 10 to May 10, including weekends. During Wednesday’s testing, test ballots were counted to ensure that the machines are working properly, according to an announcement posted on the Embassy’s website. The memory cards to be used for the elections were also set to zero to make sure no previous votes are counted before the start of the election. After the testing, all election materials were sealed and submitted to the Special Ballot Reception and Custody Group for safekeeping. The announcement further said the PCOS machines and Election Materials box will be opened only on April 10. Comelec Commissioner Armando Velasco, who heads the OAV committee, will likewise be monitoring the elections in the island city-state. Voting for national positions Automated OAV will be conducted only in the two countries, while voting elsewhere will be postal or manual. Records from the Commission on Filipinos Overseas show that as of December 2008, there were about 155,317 Filipinos in Hong Kong, while about 158,231 were in Singapore. Overseas voters will be voting only for president, vice president, 12 senators and one party-list representative. Comelec is advising voters to bring their Philippine passport and identification card (PR card, S-Pass, E-Pass or Work Permit). They should also check first if their names are in the Certified List of Overseas Absentee Voters (CLOAV) found on the Comelec website. (www.comelec.gov.ph) Only overseas absentee voters whose names appear in the CLOAV will be allowed to vote. — With a report from Tiffany Tan in Beijing/JV, GMANews.TV