Comelec Tests New Voting Technologies in Tawi-Tawi Ahead of 2025 Midterm Elections

BONGAO, TAWI-TAWI — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) conducted mock elections in Tawi-Tawi on Friday to trial new voting technologies slated for use in the May 2025 midterm elections. The tests were carried out to assess the functionality and reliability of automated counting machines (ACMs) and the automatic results transmission system in the remote region.

According to Philippines News Agency, the mock elections were held in Bongao, the capital of Tawi-Tawi, and included tests in the even more remote island of Simunul. Service providers Miru Systems and iONE, responsible respectively for the ACMs and the results transmission technology, were present to oversee the process. Garcia highlighted the importance of testing the integration of these systems to ensure they could effectively handle the transmission of election results, even in areas with weak signal connectivity.

The tests in Simunul, located approximately 12 kilometers south of Bongao, were part of a broader effort to ensure that the new technologies would be effective across diverse and challenging geographical locations. Garcia emphasized that these mock elections were crucial for making necessary adjustments, particularly concerning the transmission capabilities of the equipment.

The chairperson also mentioned that these were not prototype machines but the actual ACMs that will be deployed in the 2025 elections. He expressed satisfaction with the early exposure of the technologies to the local population and potential candidates, underscoring the importance of familiarizing them with the systems to be used in the forthcoming polls.