Comelec: Only 1 firm, so far, for online overseas voting deal

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Thursday said that only one firm had purchased the bidding documents (BidDocs) for the procurement of the online voting and counting system (OVCS) for overseas voting in the 2025 midterm elections as of Thursday.

It said the lone buyer of BidDocs is SMS Global Technologies, Inc..

Comelec added that the approved budget for the OVCS is P465,810,926.57.

“BidDocs may be purchased until February 8, 2024, the deadline for Bid Submission, which will be followed by the Bid Opening,” said Comelec spokesperson Atty. John Rex Laudiangco in a message sent to reporters.

“Though 1 pa lang po ang bumili ng BidDocs (even though only one bidder has purchased the BidDocs so far), several potential bidders are present here at the Pre Bid Conference,” Laudiangco added.