Comelec all set for final test of PCOS machines
Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. leads the opening of the PCOS Demonstration Center in the Comelec main office that will allow voters to get a first hand experience in automated voting. INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO/Matikas Santos
MANILA, Philippines – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is set to conduct the final testing and sealing (FTS) of the Precint Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines beginning Thursday, Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. said Wednesday.
“We’re starting the [FTS] tomorrow in certain areas already … but the bulk will be on May 6 next Monday,” Brillantes told reporters.
He clarified that the FTS will not be simultaneous all over the country because the PCOS and all other paraphernalia do not arrive at the same time in the polling places all over the country.
The poll chief said that if the PCOS machines and all the election paraphernalia have already arrived and the board of election inspectors (BEI) are ready, “they can start” the FTS.
The FTS process will check if the PCOS accepts the ballots and if the count of the PCOS will match that of a manual count that will be conducted after the FTS, Brillantes said.
He also said that the transmission process will be tested starting Thursday to determine which areas in the country have deadspots or have a weak cellular signal since the PCOS will be using the cellphone networks.
Each PCOS will have three SIM cards for the three major cellphone networks to ensure that it will always have network coverage. Brillantes also said that they are in close coordination with the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) with regards to ensuring the strength of the signal of the three major network’s cell sites.
For certain areas that have no signal, they will be setting up satellite communication systems such as Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) and very small aperture terminal (VSAT) to transmit the election results, Brillantes said.
The FTS will last up to the week before elections on May 13, he said.
