The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said on Wednesday, April 12, that it is open to a hybrid voting system yet it would not just involve a single technology.
In a media forum in Manila, Comelec Spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco stated that during the 1st National Election Summit held last month various systems were presented yet they are not looking to tap just one.
"Lahat ng maganda sa ibat ibang sistema ang pagsasama samahin namin dito (All the good qualities of the systems will be combined into one)," he said.
"Hindi lang kami tumitingin sa isang technology lang. Anong mga advancements ng technology ang pwede namin pagsama samahin into one automated system at yun ipapabid out namin. Yun gamitin natin dahil yun ang nararapat (We're not just looking at a single technology. We're looking at what advancements and technologies are we allowed to collect into one automated system which we will bid out. That's what we should use," he added.
He also explained that unlike before wherein Comelec only looked at which is the best system among the providers, now he said that the poll body is examining which part of these systems best suits Comelec and the Filipino people.
On the other hand, Laudiangco also said that they would abide by what will be indicated in the law should it be passed.
Under a hybrid system, voting and counting will be manual while transmission at canvassing will be automated. However, Laudiangco reminded that this will then again add the human intervention in the system which was removed in the Automated Election System (AES).
Last year, Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia stated that in the interest of ensuring transparency, he mentioned that he is personally in support of the hybrid system of election.
"Personally I had been supporting the hybrid system of election when Senator Imee Marcos was then Chairperson of the Committee on Electoral Reforms of the Senate, we were able to pass the legislation at least as far as the Senate is concerned but there was no sufficient time," he disclosed.
"That's why it was set aside, but next time the Congress will pursue with the hybrid system election definitely, at least, personally I will support that and I will try to convince the members of the Commission, the other Commissioners, the en banc that we should likewise support this system because this ensures greater transparency," he added.
Garcia mentioned that it's not enough that results are being transmitted quickly. He said that what's being transmitted should be accurate and that people can really see that their votes are being counted.