THE COMMISSION on Elections (Comelec) on Friday declared as successful the second poll automation system field test despite several glitches in data transmission.

Michael Deonida, Comelec director for Metro Manila, said in a press briefing the tests were held at two schools in Pateros and one in Taguig.

He said the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines were able to transmit results only after the replacement of faulty subscriber identity module (SIM) cards whose service provider was not identified.

After the SIM card replacement, Mr. Deonida said data transmission from Pateros Elementary School to the servers of municipal board of canvassers, Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster sa Pilipinas and Comelec took 40 minutes, or from 9:45 a.m. to 10:25 a.m.

The transmission at Taguig Elementary School took only seven minutes, but the process at Aguho Elementary School in Pateros took more than two and a half hours. Aside from the failed SIM, the voting machine at Aguho failed to read at least four ballots, noted Mr. Deonida, citing initial field reports.

Explaining a cause of the delay, Smartmatic/Total Information Management Corp. (Smartmatic/TIM) spokesman Gene Gregorio noted that the rejected ballots were the same ones used from the first field test.

“If the ballot is not well maintained or has been previously marked, the [PCOS] machine would regard it as a spurious ballot,” he told BusinessWorld in a separate phone interview.

“The system’s success is not a fluke… this field test is a success,” Comelec spokesman James Arthur B. Jimenez said in the same briefing.

Comelec officials said they would be using two modes for sending results �” global system for mobile communication (GSM) used by cellphones and broadband global area network (BGAN) via satellite for areas with poor or no GSM signal.

Mr. Gregorio said Smartmatic/TIM purchased 5,000 BGAN units for the May 10 elections.

Comelec is scheduled to hold mock polls in the cities of Baguio, Davao, Cebu and Taguig in Feb. 6.

Meanwhile, the PCOS test in the town of Lake Sebu, South Cotabato on Wednesday suffered a minor glitch, a Comelec provincial official said. It was conducted in the far-flung village of Ned and in Bacdulong.

Jay P. Gerada, acting South Cotabato Comelec supervisor, said the test was “successful” even if data transmission from Ned initially failed due to the absence of telecommunication signal in the school testing site.

Data was eventually sent after the team moved the PCOS machine from the Bandala Elementary School to a nearby site, he said

Citing Comelec guidelines, Mr. Gerada said the board of election inspectors is allowed to transfer the machine for clearer mobile network signal but only “in worst-case scenarios” and in the presence of watchers and poll authorities.

In Barangay Bacdulong, about 10 kilometers from the poblacion, the field test at an elementary school went smoothly despite limited telecommunication signal, he said.

Aside from Metro Manila and South Cotabato, testing was only done in Bakun in Benguet for Luzon and Naga City in Cebu for the Visayas. Both were also declared a success. -- Adriel M. Paglinawan and Romer S. Sarmiento

Source :
http://www.bworldonline.com/main/content.php?id=5448
Posted on 07:05 PM, January 29, 2010