Comelec still undecided on mall voting

By LITO RULONA
and NITZ ARANCON
Correspondents

THE Commission on Election (Comelec) has remained uncertain on whether or not to pursue plans to hold elections in malls this May.

Gina Luna Sabio, legal counsel of the Comelec regional office, said the mall voting plan would depend on the result of the public hearings conducted in key cities of the country, and the poll body is weighing the pros and the cons.

“We are still looking at some issues like we don’t want a misconception that just about anyone can vote in the malls,” she said. “It is only for those living near the malls.”

Meanwhile, Misamis Oriental election supervisor Joseph Hamilton Cuevas said the Comelec here has asked Smartmatic to ensure a 100-percent transmission signal in the city to avoid suspicions of fraud.

“I’m pushing for 100-percent transmission signal for Cagayan de Oro City aron dili na kita mag-huna-huna nga na-ay cheating sa election  dinhi kay ang Cagayan de Oro is a cheating-free  city, and I want to prove that this coming elections,” Cuevas said.

He said the Comelec is working to avoid a situation similar to what hapened in the 2010 when transmission problems marred the elections.

“Before, there was a failure in the transmission–some areas failed to transmit. The problem and allegations of cheating started because of that, but I don’t believe that [there was cheating],” Cuevas said.

Comelec officials here said the new vote counting machines (VCM) that would be used in May would ensure smooth elections.

Cuevas said the technology that would be used is “sophisticated,” hack-proof, and boasts of a 256   bit encryption that is higher than the 180 bit encryption of automatic teller machines of banks.

“Dili gani kaya sa mga hacker ang pag-hack anang ATM machines… Bisan FBI dili nila kaya ang pag-hack sa VCM,” he said.