In preparation for the nearing May 2022 polls, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) will provide cloud hosting to the Commission on Elections’ (Comelec’s) online services such as Registration Status Verifier, the Precinct Finder, and the National and Local Election (NLE) Results Website.
Acting DICT Secretary Emmanuel Rey R. Caintic said their agency will give whatever means needed to ensure a safe and secure election process.
“The Precinct Finder is a useful platform to combat voter disenfranchisement. It will guide voters who would have difficulty finding their assigned voting precinct,” he said during his speech during the memorandum of agreement signing with Comelec, Friday, April 1.
He said that the Precinct Finder, which can be accessed on Comelec’s official website, will be made available after the MOA signing ceremony.
“As of today, ni-live na natin ‘yung precinct finder sa ating cloud environment that we are sponsoring. Within the day after this MOA signing, it will be available.”
Caintic hopes that the Precinct Finder will help diminish the number of voters who fail to cast their vote just because they cannot locate their voting precincts.
He also urged voters to utilize the Registration Status Verifier to confirm their current voter status.
Through the NLE Results Website, DICT said it will make it easier for the public to check the results of the 2022 polls.
“And it is our hope that this will provide a certain level of transparency in the coming elections,” said Caintic.
Since the NLE Results is a website on its own, the DICT said they are still fortifying it and will be made available weeks before the May 2022 elections.
“Iyong (NLE Results Website) hina-harden pa for production, migration, in a couple of weeks in the next few weeks prior to elections,” Caintic said.
To ensure the security of the cloud infrastructure, DICT said it will also conduct a regular, thorough, vulnerability assessment and penetration test on Comelec’s online services.
Caintic said the DICT is always “ready to extend assistance, especially on cybersecurity measures for the automated election system.”
“We hope that our continued collaboration with the Comelec can maximize the ICT-enabled solutions that will change the Filipino voting experience for the better,” he ended.