Comelec: DOST to certify vote-counting machines

Commission on Elections. INQUIRER FILES

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) will certify vote-counting machines (VCMs) and ensure their proper operation ahead of the 2025 polls, Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Garcia said on Tuesday.

The DOST certification will be conducted in November or December, alongside the international certification that will be done abroad.

According to Garcia, this is the “first time” that a parallel testing will be done by DOST alongside an internal certification.

“Para malaman natin kung talaga bang ‘yong hardware o kung kaya nila yung software,” he said on the sidelines of the inspection of ballot-printing machines at the National Printing Office.

(So that we will know if they can handle the hardware or software.)

Garcia previously said that Comelec asked the Technical Evaluation Committee if DOST could conduct the VCM certification.

READ: Comelec tapping DOST for vote counting machines certification

Section 11 of Republic Act No. 9369, or the Election Automation Law of 2007, states that the Technical Evaluation Committee shall certify through a chosen international certifying body that the automated election system “is operating properly, securely, and accurately.”

The Technical Evaluation Committee is composed of Comelec, DOST, and the Department of Information and Communications Technology.

“Actually, ang chairman ng Technical Evaluation Committee ay DOST representative at therefore sila ay gagawa ng TOR (Terms of Reference) upang alamin ano ang pamamaraan, ano ang prosesong gagawin para sa pagko-conduct ng testing ng DOST,” Garcia said.

(Actually, the chairman of the Technical Evaluation Committee is the DOST representative and therefore, they will make the TOR to know what processes they will do during testing.)

The poll body chief also said that the certification will boost their confidence in the effectiveness of the VCMs.

“Pinagkakatiwala po namin sa DOST. Maganda po ‘yong may ganun, sapagkat kung mayroon ka nang international certification at mayroon ka pang DOST certification, kahit man lang software, at least po kahit paano ‘yong kumpyansa ay tataas at later on, kakayanin na nga ng DOST na mag-conduct ng testing, hindi lang sa software kung hindi sa hardware ng mga makina,” Garcia explained.

(We entrust this to the DOST. It is good that we have an international certification and we also have a DOST certification. Even just the software, at least our confidence will increase and later on, the DOST can test the software and the hardware of the machines.)

The Comelec chairman also said that they could move to amend the law for DOST to conduct the sole certification of VCMs.

“Kung kaya pala ng DOST na mag-test bakit kakailanganin pa tayong magkaroon ng international certification? Kapag ganun, puwede kaming mag-move na ipa-amend ang ating batas at pumayag na DOST na lang ang magte-test ng mga makina na susunod na gagamitin sa ating bansa,” he explained.

(If DOST can test it, why do we still need international certification? If that is the case, we can move to amend the law and agree that only DOST will test the machines that will be used in the country.)

READ: Comelec begins hardware acceptance tests for counting machines