Back to manual for barangay polls, says Comelec

The Commission on Elections will likely revert to pen-and-paper voting for the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections in October.

The automated election system used in the May 10 national elections would be too expensive for the barangay and SK polls, said Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez.

“Traditionally we have always had manual elections even though automated solutions are available. Why? Because for barangay and SK elections, we do not have consolidation on a nationwide scale,” he explained.

In the automated election system used for the May 10 elections that the Comelec leased from Smartmatic TIM Corp. for P7.2 billion, voters cast machine-readable ballots. Precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines recorded, counted and transmitted the votes to canvassing centers where the numbers were electronically added up.

The counting and consolidation of votes through the automated system is “more expensive and takes a lot longer,” Jimenez said.

The barangay and SK elections have been scheduled for Oct. 25, unless the Congress passes a law canceling it.

Vice President-elect Jejomar Binay, who has expressed interest in heading the Department of Interior and Local Government, said he was in favor of abolishing the barangay and SK polls. Binay said barangay officials may be appointed by local executives, while the SK should be scrapped entirely.

Jimenez said the Comelec was not in any position to favor or disfavor the changes suggested by Binay.

He said the next batch of barangay and SK leaders should take Binay’s statements as a challenge and clean up their image as training ground for “traditional politicians.”