Question & AnswerQ&A (Republic Act No. 8436)
The policy is to ensure free, orderly, honest, peaceful, and credible elections, assuring the secrecy and sanctity of the ballot so that election results are fast, accurate, and reflective of the genuine will of the people.
It is a system using appropriate technology for voting and electronic devices to count votes and canvass/consolidate results.
Special members include a fourth member in each precinct and a COMELEC representative authorized to operate the counting machine. Qualifications include good moral character, being a registered voter, no conviction of election offenses or crimes punishable by over six months imprisonment, no pending election offense information, and not related within the fourth civil degree to board members or candidates for national positions.
Their duties include accomplishing minutes of voting for the automated system, ensuring placement of national ballots in the correct box, bringing the ballot box to the counting center, verifying ballot counts, jointly accomplishing minutes of counting with the COMELEC representative, certifying results, and securing ballots and election documents post-counting.
Features include the use of appropriate ballots, stand-alone machines capable of immediate consolidation, audit trails, minimum human intervention, and adequate security measures, among others like user-friendliness, machine security, capability to detect counterfeit ballots, and ability to print consolidated reports.
Penalties include sanctions for unauthorized use, tampering, destroying or stealing official ballots, election returns, certificates of canvass, electronic devices, interfering with installation or use of equipment, and unauthorized access or alteration of computer data or systems.
The Chairman and members of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) sitting en banc compose the National Board of Canvassers for Senators.
Votes for president, vice-president, senators, and party-list representatives are counted using the automated election system by special members of the board in designated counting centers.
The Commission shall use any available machine or component from another city/municipality with approval and in the presence of political party representatives and citizens' arm, ensuring proper notification and lawful transfer.
COMELEC together with accredited citizens' arms shall execute a continuing and systematic campaign using newspapers, radio, seminars, symposia, fora, and other means to educate the public about the automated election system and promote honest, peaceful, and orderly elections.