Is Comelec on Track?

The recent appointment of Atty. Andres Bautista as chairman and two others as commissioners fills up the three vacancies in the Commission on Elections and puts the spotlight on its preparations for the general elections next year.

Foremost in the minds of many is the status of fully automated polls with the recent decision of the Supreme Court to junk the deal between the  poll body and Smartmatic-TIM for the diagnostics, repair and refurbishment of about 80,000 Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines for not having gone through the requisite public bidding.

The previous Comelec leadership had greenlighted the deal as it said that since the machines had been rented and later purchased from Smartmatic, it stands to reason that they have the capability to do the necessary repairs and refurbishment. And with the tight schedule for the Comelec to make the necessary preparations for the May 2016, then a negotiated deal was the best option. The Supreme Court didn't think so, obviously. 

With the Comelec now left with just with a year to go before Voting Day, it will have to find a reliable supplier of a new automated election system, train the people who will operate the machines, and educate the electorate on how the machines work.

On the other hand, there have been proposals to use a hybrid system, that is, manual polls at the precinct level and full automation at the municipal to national levels. This is claimed to be more cost-effective than buying expensive machines for all voting centers in the country.

So what will be the final decision of the Comelec? 

That, of course, can only be answered by Chairman Bautista and the six commissioners.

What is clear is that they will now have to work double-time and make decisions that will have to conform to our expectations of clean, fair, peaceful and credible elections. -end-