CLARK FREEPORT- Smartmatic, the firm in charge of computerizing the May elections next year, is confident that computer machines it will provide for next year’s polls will each be equipped with batteries that can last 12 hours in case of power failure.
But what if the batteries also fail?
It will not be a hopeless case, Smartmatic international sales director Cesar Flores from Spain said in an interview during the 2nd National Information and Communication Technology Confederation of the Philippines Summit (2nd NCIP) here.
Flores said that the computer machines will still work in case its battery conks out by using instead an ordinary motorcycle battery which, however, Smartmatic is not providing. A car battery, he noted, would have “too much power”.
Flores stressed that “every voting machine is equipped with a back up external battery which can function for 12 hours.”
“Regardless of where these machines are going to be placed, with or without electricity, each of these machines goes with a battery,” he said, noting that this is one of the requirements of the Commission on Elections in its terms of reference.
Flores said, however, that Smartmatic has spare voting machines and batteries. “We have prepared for contingencies measures, so we feel very comfortable that we will be fully functional on election day.”
In his short talk during the opening rites of the summit, Flores also assured voters that they need not know the technology of computerized elections in order to vote.
“With the elections in May (next year), there are still a lot of anxiety and questions on what could happen,” he said.
Flores assured voters that while the polls will be computerized, the process will still remain “a paper-based system” that can provide room for recount or auditing of ballots.
He also noted that it would take the voter only five to six seconds to insert his ballots into the voting machine.
Smartmatic, a world-class leading supplier of electoral solutions and services, won the bid to computerize the 2010 elections in that its website smartmatic.com described as “one of the largest nationwide automated elections in the world.”
The Comelec awarded it about US$150 million to deploy 82,200 so-called SAES1800 voting machines across the country and transmit the results to all canvassing and consolidation centers. In addition, it will train and place 45,000 support technicians, and manage all logistics and technical contingencies during the project, with the target of enabling electronic voting to some 50 million voters, including even those living in remote locations and difficult terrains.
But what if the batteries also fail?
It will not be a hopeless case, Smartmatic international sales director Cesar Flores from Spain said in an interview during the 2nd National Information and Communication Technology Confederation of the Philippines Summit (2nd NCIP) here.
Flores said that the computer machines will still work in case its battery conks out by using instead an ordinary motorcycle battery which, however, Smartmatic is not providing. A car battery, he noted, would have “too much power”.
Flores stressed that “every voting machine is equipped with a back up external battery which can function for 12 hours.”
“Regardless of where these machines are going to be placed, with or without electricity, each of these machines goes with a battery,” he said, noting that this is one of the requirements of the Commission on Elections in its terms of reference.
Flores said, however, that Smartmatic has spare voting machines and batteries. “We have prepared for contingencies measures, so we feel very comfortable that we will be fully functional on election day.”
In his short talk during the opening rites of the summit, Flores also assured voters that they need not know the technology of computerized elections in order to vote.
“With the elections in May (next year), there are still a lot of anxiety and questions on what could happen,” he said.
Flores assured voters that while the polls will be computerized, the process will still remain “a paper-based system” that can provide room for recount or auditing of ballots.
He also noted that it would take the voter only five to six seconds to insert his ballots into the voting machine.
Smartmatic, a world-class leading supplier of electoral solutions and services, won the bid to computerize the 2010 elections in that its website smartmatic.com described as “one of the largest nationwide automated elections in the world.”
The Comelec awarded it about US$150 million to deploy 82,200 so-called SAES1800 voting machines across the country and transmit the results to all canvassing and consolidation centers. In addition, it will train and place 45,000 support technicians, and manage all logistics and technical contingencies during the project, with the target of enabling electronic voting to some 50 million voters, including even those living in remote locations and difficult terrains.
