Comelec: No UV lamps ready to verify ballots in poll centers abroad

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) revealed on Thursday that it doesn't seem to have any ultraviolet (UV) lamps prepared for the verification of ballots in foreign voting centers, just two days before overseas absentee voting begins for Filipinos abroad so they could participate in the May 2010 elections. "It looks like wala, it looks like hindi sila nagdala o hindi napag-usapan yun (It looks like we don't have UV lamps there, it looks like they didn't bring any or they did not talk about that)," Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez told reporters in an interview. But Comelec Commissioner Armando Velasco, who heads the poll body committee on overseas absentee voting, said that they still have to "coordinate" with their technical people regarding the need for the UV lamp in Hong Kong and Singapore — the two host countries where voting will be automated. (See: As OAV start nears, Pinoys abroad urged: Go out and vote) Jimenez said that if there really is a need for the lamps, "(they) can get UV lamps there." The UV marks are one of the security features which will prove that a ballot is authentic. The other security features include the unique ballot paper, a bar code, Comelec markings, and the unique precinct-based numbers on the ballot. Meanwhile, a Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) spokesman said UV lamps that are standard equipment in embassies and consulates abroad to verify passports can also be used for ballots. The Comelec decided to automate the polls in Singapore and Hong Kong based on the number of voters and the feasibility of holding automated elections in these countries. Singapore has 31,851 voters while Hong Kong has 95,355, which combined would make up 20 percent of the total number of overseas voters. Voting in these countries, although automated, will still be conducted for one whole month from April 10 until May 10, the election day in the Philippines. He said that the Comelec will only print out the election returns on the last day and will use a total of 30 PCOS machines overseas, four of which are spares. Overseas voting is traditionally done manually. Registered Filipinos abroad are given two options to vote: by going to the consulate or embassy or by mail. A total of 140,132 voters are expected to avail of postal voting while 300,695 are expected to choose personal voting. Earlier, the Comelec said that it will be using handheld UV lamps to verify the authenticity of the ballot after high-speed printing of the ballots caused the UV marks to misalign, making it hard for Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines to read the security markings. But political analyst Ramon Casiple, a member of the Comelec Advisory Council, disclosed that the voting machines were unable to read the security features because poll machine supplier Smartmatic-TIM actually failed to supply the correct ink for the UV marks. - RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV