on automated election

I have researched on the internet on the facts pertaining to the automation of the presidential election in 2010 and I have come up with these facts. This coming election which will be automated would cause Malacañang an P11.9 billion supplemental budget. The proposed OES-based automated election system, combined with an optical mark recognition (OMR) technology, could cost government about P8 billion for the equipment and operations. If Comelec prefers getting the OES automated election system alone, it will cost around P4 billion. It was also said that the choice of automation technology and its successful implementation is key to the credibility of the elections."
A lot of questions were raised upon the birth of this said automation. One question is, How reliable can the automation system be? A lot are saying that anything that is being done through computerized would be easier to falsify. Will the new system put an end to “dagdag bawas?” Is the software used for the system bug-free? With all these questions I guess it would be appropriate to know first how this automated system works. A lot are giving their opinion but really doesn’t have the knowledge on how it will work out.
On the election, a counting machine will be used. It is a machine that uses an optical scanning mark-sense reading. Also included in the list is Computer set which contains regular components, i.e., monitor, central processing unit or CPU, keyboard and printer. A National Ballot which will be counted by the counting machine. It will contain the name of the candidates running for a certain position. On the most basic sense, this system will use the power of the computer to automate the most time consuming part of the election which is counting the ballots. Still, voters will be required to write the names of their candidates manually on the ballot.
Many advantages also await the use of this new system. Let me enumerate them and give my comment on each advantage.
1.There will be no ballot box snatching as the ERs are transmitted electronically for canvassing
Of course no ballot box snatching will be possible since we will not anymore transport our ballot boxes. But I guess, ballot switching would still be possible. Even tough it would be that hard to do but as the famous line goes, “Pag gusto, maraming pwedeng paraan”. That is why I strongly believe that automation is not the key to a “dayaan-free” election.

2.If all precincts are connected, national results can be produced within one hour after the close of voting
I guess this is one of the reasons why a part of me will go with this automation system. The longer the time to produce the result of the election the greater chance that cheating will occur. We don’t know what will happen on the hours that we are waiting for the result since we are manually counting the ballots. It will just give those people who wants to cheat a time to carry out their plan.


3.Ballots are pre-printed and voters simply mark choices
To some this would be an advantage since voting time will be shorten for we will now simply mark the candidate that we want. But I guess this will be one of the sources of cheating for the up-coming election.

Looking on the disadvantages of the automation, the first thing that will come in our mind is the easy falsifying of data. Another thing to look into is, will the system really work? I have read in a computer magazine that even those new and expensive system encounters trouble. We can’t surely rely on a 100% performance for a system that is 1st time being implemented here in the Philippines. Maybe their are people who expects that every thing will be fine. But I’m pretty sure that they really can’t say that their will never be a problem with the new system that we are about to implement. With my experience, computers are unpredictable; we will never know when it will fail.
On the question on its reliability, for me, no one can measure it at this moment. But surely its reliability would be known after the election. This is also the reason why some people are claiming that the coming election will be a trial and error procedure for the new system. Will we allow such a thing to happen? This is a presidential election and the result of this election would surely spell where our country will be going for the next years to come. We all want an honest election; we all want a reliable result that will just show the real choice of the Filipino people.
I guess if a candidate in the election really intends to cheat, he or she will always find a way to do such a thing. Even if we automate our election, nothing would still change if people will not change. I guess our problem is not in the system. It is on the people involve on the election system. Another thing to consider here is the question is hitting our readiness for this automation. As what I have seen on the television a lot of problems are coming out inline with this new automated system. Is this really the right time for this? Will our gamble for a fast election meet our expectation for an honest and effective election? Even I can’t answer such question.
But if I will be asked if I am against this automated system, my answer would be YES. For me, our country is not yet ready for this, both the government and the people. The main thing that is important here for the next election is the fact that we want an honest election. Automation will surely not provide us with what we want, it will only give us a fast result for the election may it be reliable or full of fraud. The main factor that will play a vital role in the election is not the computers that we have and are capable to purchase and use, it will also be not in the software that will be used on the machines. The main factor ever since the election began are the people; the ones who will select the appropriate leader for this country. For the success of the election, automated or not, still lies on the hands of the Filipino people.