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Poll machines for Visayas, Mindanao 100% delivered — Comelec


The delivery of the machines that will be used in the May 10 automated elections has been completed in the Visayas and Mindanao, a Commission on Elections (Comelec) official said on Wednesday. Elections Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal said 35,279 Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines — 17,077 in the Visayas and 18,202 in Mindanao — are now in their respective hubs in the two regions. In Luzon, a total of 6,538 machines have been delivered as of Monday, Larrazabal said. The PCOS machines must reach their designated precincts three days before the elections for the testing and sealing. The Comelec hired three forwarders — Germalin Enterprises, Ace Logistics, and Argo Forwarders — to transport the poll machines. These forwarders will be held liable if the machines do not reach their locations on time. Areas that already have their voting machines are Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union, Pangasinan (Region I); Abra, Benguet, Mt. Province, Ifugao (CAR); Cagayan, Batanes, Tuguegarao, Isabela, Aurora (Region II); Bataan, Zambales, Tarlac, Nueva Ecija (Region III); Cavite, Batangas, Rizal (Region IVA); Marinduque, Masbate, Mindoro, Romblon, Palawan (Region IVB); Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Legaspi, Catanduanes, Sorsogon (Region V); Bacolod City, Iloilo City, Roxas City (Region VI); Cebu City, Tagbiliran City, Dumaguete City (Region VII); Tacloban City (Region VIII); Zamboanga City, Dipolog City (Region IX); Cagayan de Oro, Ozamis City (Region X); Davao City (Region XI); Cotabato City, General Santos City (Region XII); and Butuan City (Region XIII). Larrazabal also announced that as of 10 p.m., April 27, they have already sent 21 percent of the ballots for the Visayas (3,549) and 71 percent for Mindanao (12,936). "The ballots are currently in transit, or already in the provinces and cities/municipalities," he said. Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said they are confident that the ballots would be safe from whatever condition because they were vacuum-sealed before deployment. Technology provider Smartmatic bagged the contract to deploy the ballots with the help of forwarder Air 21. — KBK/RSJ, GMANews.TV

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