The public will have a chance to try the vote counting machine (VCM) ahead of the May 9 polls.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Monday, April 18, signed a memorandum of agreement with SM Supermalls for the Let’s Vote Pinas VCM demo and experience project as part of their voter education campaign.

In his speech, Comelec Chairman Saidamen Pangarungan said through the VCM demo and experience, they hope to "familiarize each voter with the tool that we will use to record and transmit their votes."

"With this project, we aim to dispel apprehension and fear of some voters regarding the use and security of the vote counting machines. These are state of the art equipment that have been used by other countries. They are engineered to be secure and tamper proof. The programming and codes for the machines are also safe and secure," he said.

"So, we invite our voters to test them and familiarize themselves with these machines. So that when election day comes, we are confident that our votes will be recorded and counted securely," added Pangarungan.

Comelec Commissioner Marlon Casquejo said the involvement of the public voting experience will assist the commission in guaranteeing how secure the votes are and that the sanctity of ballots remains paramount amidst misinformation that votes can be maneuvered or even tracked.

"This would allow the voters to see for themselves that each ballot has several security markings that will eliminate any doubt that they may have from the start, particularly among the first time voters. But most importantly, giving the public this voting experience will lessen errors that the voters usually commit on eleciotn day in shading the oval, handling the ballot or even how the ballot is being fed into the machine," he said.

The Comelec said all 78 malls of SM will participate in the project.