MORE HELPFUL TIPS

Once your ballot has been accepted, the PCOS machine scans the ballot.

PCOS machine scans the ballot

What can go wrong: The PCOS machine may not read the voter’s choices correctly; it only gives a confirmation message that the voter’s ballet has been accepted. COMELEC has disabled the feature that will verify that the machine has interpreted the voter’s choice correctly, violating Art. 7 of RA 9369 (Automated Election System Law).

What COMELEC says: According to COMELEC, verification of the actual votes is not necessary because it is the voter who shaded his or her own ballot. Besides, the process will take too long. Voters will have to trust that the machine will read their votes correctly.

What you can do: You can join others in pressuring the COMELEC to enable the verification feature of the machine to ensure the transparency of the voting process. On election day, make sure you see the confirmation message on the PCOS screen before leaving the polling station.

As soon as the PCOS machine is done scanning the ballots, the BEI will close the polls to prevent additional ballots from being inserted.

Polls are closed

What can go wrong: The polls are still open by the end of the voting period.

What you can do: Stay behind to watch and make sure that no other ballots are being fed into the machine

Polls are closed

What can go wrong: If there is a 100% voter turnout, the PCOS machine may not be able to hold all 1,000 paper ballots.

What COMELEC says: COMELEC says that all ballots will fit into the unit, but this claim has not yet been tested.

What you can do: Make sure that all ballots are intact and that the PCOS machines are not opened at any time.

The PCOS Machine starts the tallying process automatically.

The PCOS counts the votes

What can go wrong: At the beginning of election day, the PCOS machine should show a zero report. Instead, the machine prints a summary that shows the total number of votes of each candidate.

What COMELEC says: Two or three days before the elections, every single PCOS machine will be calibrated. There is no way for a zero report to not get printed on election day.

What you can do: If the PCOS machine does not print a zero report, poll watchers should contact the BEI and ask for a new machine. This will prevent the possible rigging of votes.

The PCOS counts the votes

What can go wrong: A discrepancy in numbers, where the number of votes do not match the voter turnout.

What COMELEC says: To countercheck the results, COMELEC will randomly visit precincts and do a manual count of ballots.

What you can do: Examine the printed election returns (ER) posted in the precinct to see if the voter turnout and number of votes match. Alert the poll watchers and the media if you spot any discrepancies.

The PCOS counts the votes

What can go wrong: The machine does not print copies of the ER. Ideally, it should print 8 copies of the ER before the transmission and 22 more copies afterwards. There should be a total of 30 ER copies.

What COMELEC says: Each PCOS unit has a compact flash (CF) card where the images of the scanned ballots and voting results are stored. If this happens, the CF card can be easily removed and inserted in another PCOS machine, which will then print the ERs.

What you can do: If this happens, follow the BEI and keep your eye on the CF card to prevent any switching. Make sure the ERs are printed properly.

After the ballots are counted and ERs are successfully printed, the election officer will insert a transmission cable onto the machine. The PCOS unit electronically transmits the results to the municipal board of canvassers, the central server, and servers for political parties, KBP, and PPCRV.

PCOS sends electronic transmissions of the results

What can go wrong: Poor signal or no signal, preventing the unit from sending the results.

What COMELEC says: The BEI can find a better satellite signal or change the SIM cards. If this does not work, the BEI will take the CF card of the unit and go to the nearest precinct. A functioning PCOS will then be used to transmit the results.

What you can do: Follow the BEI and keep your eye on the CF card to prevent any switching. If the PCOS unit is being transported, make sure nobody removes the ballots from the machine.

http://www.thepoc.net/automated-elections/5628-how-to-resolve-potential-problems-in-the-automated-elections.html

BUMOTO PARA SA ...

HELPFUL TIPS FOR THE ELECTIONS

While you may already be familiar with how to vote in an automated election, there are a few technical problems that can occur before your vote gets counted and transmitted. These helpful tips to the May 2010 elections illustrates what can go wrong, what Commission on Election (COMELEC) has done, and what you can do to prevent further problems. Many of these potential problems can be prevented by vigilance and your cooperation. Do your part to keep our elections clean by educating yourself about the voting process.

Voter shades his votes on the paper ballot

What can go wrong: Each ballot is 25 inches long. Voters have to go through a lengthy list and shade up to 36 names (in municipalities), which may take time. Election officers may also not have enough felt tip pens for voters.

What you can do: Prepare your list of candidates and bring a cheat sheet. This will help you shade the ovals as fast as you can to give way to other voters. Consider bringing extra felt tip pens and lending them to other voters.

Voter feeds ballot into the PCOS Machine

What can go wrong: Each precinct may serve up to 1,000 voters - expect long lines.

What COMELEC says: COMELEC will extend voting day until midnight if necessary.

What you can do: To avoid standing in line for hours, go to your precinct early. All precincts will be open from 7 am until 6 pm.

Voter feeds ballot into the PCOS Machine

What can go wrong: Power outage!

What COMELEC says: PCOS units have batteries that can last for 16 hours. For complete loss of power at the start of election day, precinct will resort to manual voting.

What you can do: Bring flashlights so you can accomplish your ballot in the dark. If a machine is not working, alert the Bureau of Election Inspector (BEI) and Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) volunteers.

Voter feeds ballot into the PCOS Machine

What can go wrong: A ballot is rejected.

What you can do: Make sure your ballot is neat and free of folds or crumples. If the machine spits out your ballot, insert it a second until the fourth time. If the PCOS still rejects the ballot, return the ballot to the BEI Chairman.

Voter feeds ballot into the PCOS Machine

What can go wrong: Despite keeping your ballot clean and straight, the machine jams. This time, it’s the machine’s fault.

What COMELEC says: There are 6,380 spare PCOS machines that can be used if a unit is not working.

What you can do: Hold on to your ballot and report the error to the BEI.

Voter feeds ballot into the PCOS Machine

What can go wrong: Pre-marked legitimate ballots might have already been fed into the machine.

What COMELEC says: Testing and sealing of the PCOS machine will be done at least three days before election day to ensure that it will not be tampered.

What you can do: Take part in the testing and sealing procedures to make sure that no pre-marked ballots are entered. Help secure the polling places where the machines are installed.

Voter feeds ballot into the PCOS Machine

What can go wrong: A ballot may be rendered void or unreadable by the machine due to markings or scratches on the security marks located on the paper’s edge. Overvoting, or choosing more than the allotted numbers of candidates per position, will also cause your ballot to be void.

What you can do: Make sure not to write anything on the security marks. Shade the ovals fully and double-check to see if you selected the right number of candidates per position. Again, it helps to bring a cheat sheet to avoid these mistakes.

http://www.thepoc.net/automated-elections/5628-how-to-resolve-potential-problems-in-the-automated-elections.html

TARA!

KNOW YOUR BALLOT

The ballot is still in paper form just like the old ballot we are used to. But it now looks more professional and is roughly the size of an A4 sheet of paper. The names of the candidates running for national positions are printed back-to-back. Below is a sample of the ballot. You may click on the image for a bigger view.



It’s a lot easier to fill out the ballot now because there is no need to write names. All we have to do is shade the oval beside our candidate of choice. We also do not need to bring pencils or ballpens. COMELEC-provided markers will be available at the precincts. To vote, just shade the oval completely right beside the name of your selected candidate. It’s just like coloring the oval. Simple.

There are a few things to remember so as not to invalidate your vote and to minimize inconveniences to you.

1. Shade the oval completely. Marking it with a dot, X, a line or any other mark is NOT VALID. Partial shading also may risk invalidation as it won’t be properly read by the machine.

2. Do not OVERVOTE. This means you should NOT vote more candidates than available positions. For example, there should be only ONE Presidential vote. If you shaded 2 or more names, your vote for President is invalidated.

3. You can UNDERVOTE. This means you can vote for LESS candidates than available positions. For example, if you need to choose 12 senators but you only opt to vote for 10, that is allowed.

4. It is better to go to the precinct with your list of chosen candidates already (codigo). This will speed up the time it will take for you to fill up your ballot and reduce chances of mistakes.

http://www.thepoc.net/automated-elections/2997-know-your-ballot.html

LIGHT MOMENT : JUST A SPOOF ON PHILIPPINE ELECTIONS (NO PUN INTENDED)

FIND YOUR PRECINCT ONLINE

As part of the Commission on Election's (Comelec) continuing registration program, it has made a way for you to find your precinct online. The data they have is based on Comelec’s Field Data officer’s submissions. It is a good time to verify now where your precinct is, so you could act upon it. Just visit Comelec’s website.




Simply fill up the form - enter your first name, middle name and last name, and date of birth in the appropriate spaces.



For example, if your name is Rachel Sarah Cruz Domingo, type “Rachel Sarah” in the first name field, "Cruz" in the middle name space, and obviously, in the last name space, “Domingo”. Add your birthday, and then press submit. It comes out as something like this:

http://www.thepoc.net/voters-education/3250-how-to-find-online-your-precinct-before-election-day.html

A VERY TOUCHING NOTE FROM DAWN MICHOR

BAGONG ARAW, BAGONG BITUIN

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE ELECTIONS

Step 1- Go to your Precinct on May 10, 2010

There will be about 37,062 voting centers and 74,427 clustered precincts. Each clustered precinct will have one Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machine, each of which can supposedly accommodate up to 1,000 voters.

Upon arriving at the precinct, a voter should look for his or her name at the Posted Computerized Voters List (PCVL) near the door of the voting center to determine his or her precinct number and sequence number. The voter will be instructed to give these pieces of information to the Bureau of Election Inspector (BEI) together with other personal information.

Make sure you bring your voter’s ID with you. If you don’t have one yet, bring any valid ID along with your registration stub.

STEP 2- Have your Identity Verified

After his or her identity is verified, the name of the voter will be read out loud to give chance for any contention. If uncontested, he or she will be given a ballot by the BEI chairman – only upon ensuring that the said voter has yet to cast his or her vote in another precinct.

STEP 3- How to use your Ballot

Listen to the BEI's instruction on how to fill the ballot. The voter will be instructed to fill out his or her ballot using a secrecy folder and a marking pen provided by the Comelec. He or she must fill out the ballot by fully shading the oval beside the names of the candidates and party-list group of his or her choice.

1.Every voter gets only ONE ballot. No replacement ballots will be given to voters who make a mistake.

2.Make sure the ballot you receive has no marks and is clean.
3.Each ballot comes with the name of the candidates. To the left of the candidates are ovals. Simply shade the oval next to the name of the chosen candidate.

4.The oval must be shaded COMPLETELY. Ballots with check marks, x marks, partially shaded ovals, and other marks will be rejected.

5.Do not over-vote (e.g. vote two candidates for the position of President) because this will invalidate your votes for the position (but not the whole ballot).

6.You can bring a sheet of your chosen candidates with you when you vote.

STEP 4- Feed your ballot to the PCOS

PCOS stands for Precinct Count Optical Scan. This is a paper-based technology that contains pre-programmed information on the location, number of voters, etc. Each precinct will have one PCOS. Voters themselves feed their ballot into the machine. The machine will scan both sides of the ballot and will reject invalid ballots that are fake, photocopied, or have been previously inserted.

Once you have accomplished your ballot, feed the ballot into the PCOS. Every voter must personally feed his or her ballot into the machine. Wait for the confirmation message to appear on the screen.

Wait until the ballot is dropped into the semi-transparent ballot box. If the ballot is rejected, the BEI will allow for re-entry, but if rejected after the 4th time the ballot was inserted, the voter will not be issued a replacement ballot and the ballot will be placed in an evelope for rejected ballots.

The voter should return the secrecy folder and marking pen to the BEI chairman.

STEP 5 Go to the BEI for indelible ink marking

The BEI chairman will in turn apply indelible ink at the base and extend it to the cuticle of the right forefinger nail of the voter, who will then be instructed to affix his or her thumbmark in the space in the Election Day Computerized Voters List (EDCVL).

http://www.thepoc.net/automated-elections/2858-how-to-vote-in-an-automated-election.html