Election period kicks off preparations for May 13 polls
THE signing of a covenant by the candidates for safe, credible and peaceful elections last January 13 at Camp Antonio Sison in Lingayen at the start of the election period set into motion the many preparations to be undertaken by the Provincial Elections Office for the May 13 elections.
Speaking during the KBP Forum at the PIA office in Dagupan City on Thursday, Atty. Alipio Alonzo Castillo III, the provincial election supervisor, said that they are now readying the training of their personnel who will man the elections, beginning with the technicians and next by teachers, numbering 7,996 all over the province.
Atty. Ericson Oganiza, city election officer of Dagupan, said they (election officers) just completed their training on the Vote Counting Machine (VCM) focusing on its 100 enhancements.
On Thursday morning, Castillo met with city and municipal election officers in the province and informed them of the schedule of training of their personnel.
Specifically, the technicians need to be trained on how to troubleshoot and immediately fix glitches, if any, in the operation of the Vote Counting Machines (VCMs), while the teachers will be briefed on the general instructions during the election and on the operation of the VCMs.
He clarified that minor glitches to be noted in the VCMs will not warrant the suspension of the election.
He cited incidents in previous elections when glitches were quickly fixed by technicians in the precinct and enabled voting to resume immediately.
Castillo revealed it is the VCMs used in the 2016 elections that will again be harnessed in the May 13 elections, pointing out that it is an improved version of the old Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS).
Pangasinan, with a registered voters of 1,946,682, will have 2,632 clustered precincts and each one will have a VCM. In addition to this is the new Voters Registration Verification (VRVS) machine, which will be pilot-tested in Pangasinan that will digitally identify a voter
through his or her fingerprints, speeding up voting procedures.
Castillo said the VCMs used in the simulated mock elections in Alaminos and Dagupan Cities Saturday, January 12, that tested all the gadgets that will be used in the May 13 elections were functioning properly.
Other procedures that will be
conducted by the Comelec on the day of the balloting, were also tested.
The simulated mock election were done in Poblacion and Telbang in Alaminos City
and Salapingao and Bonuan Boquig in Dagupan City. There were 100 voters in
these four barangays who cast their votes in the simulated mock elections.
Castillo said his
office is also scheduled to coordinate with the police to discuss the taskings
on the day of the election that will include checking the security detail of
incumbent officials and others.
Meanwhile, Oganiza said that election rules on oversized campaign posters will
be strictly enforced once the campaign officially starts. (Leonardo Micua)
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