PPCRV spots ACM malfunctions during Davao testing sessions

Rewritten Article:

Pre- election jitters have swept through the nation as the Archdiocesan Commission on Elections Monitoring Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (ACE-COM PPCRV) has raised concerns about the reliability of Automated Counting Machines (ACMs) during the Final Testing and Sealing (FTS) process.

Talking to media personnel, ACE-COM PPCRV spokesperson Atty. Aileen Lizada shared her worries, after conducting test votes during the FTS at Davao City National High School on Tuesday, May 6, 2025. Lizada exposed an oddity in the machine's functioning; when she shaded two adjacent numbers, the machine failed to register them, but when she deliberately overvoted by selecting more candidates than the limit, it still read and recorded the correct number.

"Who decides which votes to count and which to drop? Which votes go uncounted and which names are left out?", Lizada questioned, pointing to the inherent confusion in the machine's processing.

To further explore the issue, Lizada marked ballots with different styles such as boxes, diagonal lines, dots, stars, and overlined shadings. She emphasized that the tests were aimed solely at evaluating the machine's performance. Despite these anomalies, she noted that, according to field reports, properly shaded names were read correctly by the ACMs.

These peculiarities in the system are being reviewed and will likely be forwarded to the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

Before concluding, Lizada highlighted that some regions experienced FTS delays due to a shortage of ACMs. It's unclear if there will be rescheduling of the tests in those specific areas.

Given the situation, PPCRV has urged voters to carefully and completely shade the designated circles on their ballots to ensure their votes will be accurately counted.

Meanwhile, Comelec-Davao assistant regional director Gay Enumerables, via text message, tried to clarify Atty. Lizada's concern about overvoting. Enumerables further explained that a specific test mark - labeled "32" - was not counted because it was outside the proper shading area, hence the machine recorded it as only 12 candidates being shaded.

Enumerables emphasized the significance of voters properly shading the correct circles to facilitate machine recognition.

The hotly anticipated 2025 National and Local Elections are set for May 12, with a staggering number of Filipinos expected to participate in the democratic process. RGP

While the Commission on Elections (Comelec) posited that the FTS of ACMs was a complete success without any technical glitches reported by electoral board members[1], concerns about the machines' dependability have still resurfaced. Specifically, the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) flagged inconsistencies in ACM testing in Davao[4]. However, it's important to note that the Automated Election System (AES), comprising the ACMs, has reportedly been certified by experts as functional and accurate after rigorous evaluations[2].

As of yet, there is no specific information available regarding the ACMs' sensitivity to different markings during the FTS process. Nevertheless, the assurance from the Technical Evaluation Committee (TEC) indicates that the AES, including the ACMs, has complied with necessary standards for performance and accuracy[2].

In short, even though there have been concerns surfacing about ACM performance, the general assessment by Comelec and experts suggests that the ACMs have generally functioned well during the FTS process.

Concerns about the reliability of the Automated Counting Machines (ACMs) during the Final Testing and Sealing (FTS) process have been raised by the Archdiocesan Commission on Elections Monitoring Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (ACE-COM PPCRV) in Davao, specifically highlighting issues with multiple shadings and overvoting.
ACE-COM PPCRV spokesperson Atty. Aileen Lizada has expressed concern about the inconsistencies in the ACMs' functioning, mentioning the possibility of votes being uncounted or incorrectly registered during elections.
To address these concerns, Lizada has marked ballots with various styles to evaluate the ACMs' performance, noting that properly shaded names were read correctly by the machines but also uncovering several peculiarities.
These concerns about the ACMs' performance in Davao have been reviewed by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and may be forwarded to them for further investigation.
Given the sensitivity of the election process and the concerns raised, the PPCRV urges voters to carefully and completely shade the designated circles on their ballots to ensure their votes are accurately counted during the 2025 National and Local Elections.