Comelec Chair George Erwin Garcia —INQUIRER.net file photo/Noy Morcoso
MANILA, Philippines — Commission on Elections Chair George Erwin Garcia told reporters on Monday that they had been informed about “several issues” hounding the P112-million Online Voting and Counting System (OVCS), which will be used for the first time by over a million overseas Filipinos to vote in next year’s elections.
“There are several issues with the OVCS and Sequent committed to address them by Jan. 3,” Garcia said, adding: “Hopefully, they can immediately address those issues.” The OVCS is a joint venture of SMS Global Technologies Inc. and Sequent Tech Inc.
One of the problems observed during the trial period for the system, Garcia said, was in the pre-enrollment process for overseas voters.
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“There are instances where those trying the system cannot successfully enroll. It needed three to four tries before they can successfully register. We don’t want that because voters may lose interest,” he reported.
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“A good system is if on the first try, they can already get registered,” Garcia said.
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Extended to January
In October, local experts started reviewing the source codes—the “brains” carrying the instructions to be followed by the automated election systems—of the OVCS and the Full Automation System with Transparency Audit/Count.
The review was initially expected to end this month but the Comelec extended it to January “to allow for a more thorough review of the systems and source codes to be used during the 2025 [national and local elections].”
The notes and observations of the local source code review committee will then be submitted to Pro V&V Inc., an Alabama-based technology firm, which is the international certification entity (ICE) for the 2025 elections. Pro V&V Inc. was also the ICE during the 2019 and 2022 polls.
The 2025 midterm elections will be the first time that the internet voting system will be used by the Philippines in 76 posts in different countries, including the United States, Canada and Australia. The other 17 posts will use automated counting machines.
The OVCS will require registered overseas voters to undergo pre-enrollment between Feb. 12 to May 12 next year.
They can cast their votes from April 13 to May 12 using any electronic device capable of accessing the Internet, including mobile phones, laptops, desktops and tablets.
If they encounter difficulties or face technical challenges during the voting period, they can visit the Philippine embassy or consulate nearest to them to cast their votes at the OVCS voting kiosks available there.
According to the Comelec, a total of 1.25 million Filipinos overseas registered for next year’s polls from December 2022 to September this year— lower than the 1.5 million it earlier projected and way lower than the around 11 million estimated Filipinos abroad.
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Garcia, however, attributed the low turnout to the fact that Filipinos overseas prefer to vote only during presidential elections.