BACOLOD CITY—Vote-counting machines (VCMs) provided by an election technology firm that Senate Majority Leader Vicente “Tito” Sotto III wanted blacklisted were likely to be used in next year’s elections, according to a Commission on Elections (Comelec) official. Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon, in a press conference on Wednesday, said at least 92,000 VCMs from Smartmatic could be bought by the Comelec because it would be cheaper than to continue leasing them. CheaperGuanzon said purchasing the VCMs from Smartmatic would cost only P1.9 billion compared with spending P6 billion on new machines from another supplier. But since the voting population has increased, Guanzon said there might be a need to lease additional VCMs from Smartmatic for the 2019 elections. The VVS, she said, is a thumbprint identification device that could help “eliminate flying voters and multiple voters.”ADVERTISEMENT

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer March 09, 2018 21:00 UTC