As the 2025 midterm election approaches, the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) is rolling out a nationwide campaign to introduce the new Automated Counting Machines (ACM). Developed by South Korean company Miru Systems Co. Ltd. after securing the contract bid in December 2023, these machines replace the Voting Counting Machines (VCM) from Smartmatic, which have been in use since the 2010 national elections. The ACM features a larger screen display and other intuitive updates designed to streamline the electoral process and strengthen public confidence in the election results.
One of the ACM was brought to Foundation University on Tuesday, January 28. Students from the College of Law and Jurisprudence witnessed COMELEC personnel Atty. Lionel Marco Castillano, Atty. Michael Cedrick Cid and Hazel Auria give a presentation on the device’s functionality.
Atty. Castillano, COMELEC Regional Election Director of Negros Island Region (NIR), spoke candidly about challenges in navigating public skepticism surrounding automated counting. “Our candidates are still suspicious about the machines,” he said, acknowledging that election defeats are often attributed to technological malfunctions rather than missteps in the campaign effort.
Unlike in the previous elections where electoral returns are hosted solely in the COMELEC central server, the current system will disseminate it through multiple channels: the central server, a public server, and one for each major political party. Any discrepancies between the various servers will be readily apparent, ensuring that integrity is preserved during the election process.
Atty. Cid, one of the key officials overseeing the roadshow, provided a comprehensive breakdown of the machine’s design improvements. A conspicuous development is the addition of a built-in shredding receptacle, an update to the ballot orientation sensor, and the presence of headphones and navigation buttons for individuals with visual or mobility impairments. “The old machines used to spit out misaligned ballots, but the ACM will accept however it is fed.” Atty. Cid explained.
For the midterm elections, voters will be given a singular, non-transferable ballot. Atty. Cid stressed the importance of its handling, as there will be no second opportunities if the papers are heavily compromised.
The machines have a more lenient threshold for valid bubble markings, standing at only 15 percent in contrast to the previous machines’ 50 percent threshold. This means that small markings on the bubble will be counted as an intentional vote.
An overvote in a particular section will invalidate the entire grouping. In the senatorial race, where 12 candidates are prescribed, marking 13 will void all of the 13 votes. A partial vote, however, will be tallied, and for this reason Atty. Cid advises that “it is better to undervote than overvote. For an undervote, the votes who are selected will go through. For provincial governors, if you vote 2, that’s an overvote.” The new machines automatically shred the receipts once they are confirmed by the voter, and dropped into the side-receptacle.
For many Filipinos, the introduction of automated machines in 2010 was a huge step towards modernization. But, a lot of improvements have been made since the first use. “It’s important that everyone knows the relevance, to remove the doubt that past [automated elections] have created in the minds of Filipino people,” Ms. Gwaineth Stefhan Pabinguit, a law student at the university opined. Pabinguit, like many others, believes that efforts to demystify the voting process will lead to smarter, more informed votes. In particular, because the country anticipates more than 20 million Gen Z voters for the midterm elections – a rough estimate according to the 13 million or 19 percent of the total registered voters in 2022. [1] In Negros Oriental, there are 978,643 registered voters, comprising 557 barangays of the province.
Atty. Jesus Ramon Quevenco, Dean of the College of Law and Jurisprudence, points out that the Constitution of the Philippines enshrines suffrage as a fundamental right for citizens. “We’re really concerned with elections. In the College of Law, one of our subjects is Election Laws — we’re supposed to be familiar with Election Laws. It provides the responsibilities of the stakeholders in an election.” The COMELEC is vested with extraordinary power during this season. “They’re allowed to deputize the police. They’re allowed to change how the justice system works; firearm bans, liquor bans, these are manifestations of the COMELEC’s power. In our country, this really shows how much we put value in our elections.” He assures the electorate that “Despite the fact of many protests in the past, our automated elections are actually fast and very accurate. “
The stakes are high in every election and Atty. Castillano restated that “It is only during the elections that we Filipinos are truly equal. One man, one vote.” The technology is sophisticated, but it is ultimately a tool. “If you put garbage into the machine, garbage will come out.”