IN PHOTOS: Comelec’s voting machines warehouse in Laguna

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IN PHOTOS: Comelec’s voting machines warehouse in Laguna

LeAnne Jazul

Check out how the Commission on Elections is testing and storing the vote counting machines to be used in the May 2016 polls

MANILA, Philippines – For the first time, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) opened to the public its vote counting machines (VCMs) warehouse in Santa Rosa, Laguna, on Thursday, February 4.

Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista led the media tour of the 5-hectare hub that is being leased to the poll body by bus operator JAM Liner for P69 million a year.

As of Thursday, 71,456 VCMs are housed in the warehouse, and the Comelec is expecting a full delivery of the 97,000 needed VCMs from technology provider Smartmatic within the next two weeks. 

The facility is wide and well-ventilated, able to accomodate more than 1,000 employees from Comelec and Smartmatic.

Words like "credible" and "informed" are displayed outside the main storage facility for the VCMs.

Comelec Administrative Services Department director Thaddeus Hernan, Smartmatic project manager Marlon Garcia, and Comelec chairman Andres Bautista lead the media tour of the Santa Rosa compound.

A VCM being unboxed by an employee.

Employees at work inside the main production facility. The media were strictly not allowed to cross the yellow lines.

Upon their arrival from Taiwan, VCMs are first stored inside the main storage facility.

The machines then undergo through the hardware acceptance and accuracy tests. If the VCMs pass, they are sent back to the storage facility and sorted by clustered precincts, ready for delivery. If one fails, it will be replaced while the defective VCM is being repaired.

Real ballot papers are used during the tests, but these only contain names of pop culture icons instead of the names of the official candidates. Comelec chairman Bautista calls them "Mickey Mouse ballots."

The Memory Configuration Room, found inside the main production facility, is only accessible to a limited number of Comelec and Smartmatic employees. The room houses the election management system, which loads election-related data to prepare the ballot faces and creates configuration files for the VCMs.

Bautista encourages the public, especially students, to visit the Santa Rosa compound. A special viewing deck has been constructed for guests, with access to the CCTV footage of the facility.

Security in the warehouse is tight. Personnel from the Comelec Organic Security Force augmented by the police conduct security checks for anyone entering the buildings. Some of them are seen here taking their lunch.

Ballot boxes are being kept inside the Santo Rosa warehouse, too.

The warehouse is easily accessible to the public as it is near a major highway. Bautista, however, does not think there is any threat to security as of posting.

This elections, the pressure is on Comelec and Smartmatic to keep the people's votes safe and secure.

Read more about the facility: Election machines warehouse: A walk-through.  – Rappler.com

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