The 2025 Philippine national and local elections on Monday, May 12, began generally peacefully and orderly in most parts of the country, but teachers’ groups reported significant disruptions due to recurring technical issues, raising public concern over the reliability of the automated electoral process.

Organizations such as the Teachers' Dignity Coalition (TDC) and ACT Philippines observed widespread problems with Automated Counting Machines (ACMs).

Voters in several key areas—including Quezon City, Pasig, Caloocan, Antipolo, Iloilo, and Davao—reported machine failures, ballot rejections, and discrepancies in vote receipts, according to ACT.

ACT Philippines Chairperson Vladimer Quetua noted that machines were slow to initialize, failed to read ballots correctly, and overheated quickly.

“Nakakadismaya ang performance… Fake news ang press release ng COMELEC na mas mahusay ito kaysa mga VCM dati (The performance is disappointing... The COMELEC’s press release claiming this system is better than the previous VCMs is fake news),” Quetua said.

Reports also highlighted how vote receipts often did not reflect voter intent, raising fears of disenfranchisement.

Instances were recorded where receipts showed overvoting or displayed names of unselected candidates—including one voter in Pasig who said his ballot registered a vote for Apollo Quiboloy despite not choosing him.

A technical failure in the National Capital Region (NCR) main server also disrupted the transmission of vote counts from polling centers such as Roxas High School in Manila.

The TDC reported further delays due to connectivity issues, adding pressure on poll workers already dealing with long hours and faulty equipment.

Substandard election materials were another concern.

ACT NCR Union President Ruby Anna Bernardo said the ballots were too thin and the pens prone to blotting, causing ink to bleed through and trigger false overvote detections by ACMs.

“Even the election paraphernalia are substandard. The paper used for ballots is too thin, and the pens are of poor quality with messy tips. Many voters complained that the ACMs misread their ballots as overvotes—especially for the partylist section—because ink seeped through to the back,” Bernardo said.

By 8 p.m., the Department of Education’s (DepEd) Election Task Force Command Center had recorded 346 incidents nationwide, mostly involving vote-counting machine errors, missing names on voter lists, and ballot issues.

“Karamihan sa mga ulat ay tumatalakay sa mga aberya sa vote counting machines, pagkakawala ng pangalan sa listahan ng mga botante, at mga usapin sa balota at rehistrasyon (Most reports concern vote-counting machine issues, missing voter names, and problems with ballots and registration),” DepEd said.

Despite the challenges, DepEd thanked the thousands of teachers and poll workers who fulfilled their duties with dedication.

The Election Task Force will remain operational until 5 p.m. on May 13 to monitor and respond to post-election developments.

As voting ended and canvassing began, calls for transparency and accountability intensified.

Teachers’ groups urged COMELEC to ensure overtime pay, improve technical preparedness, and consider manual counting options for future elections.