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Comelec holds testing for automated barangay, SK polls

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ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="The Commission on Elections holds a mock automated elections in preparation for the coming Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections at the Pasong Tamo School in Quezon City on Aug. 8, 2023. Jire Carreon, ABS-CBN News" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/news/08/08/20230808-bske-mock-election-qc-jvc11-s.jpg"/><figcaption>The Commission on Elections holds a mock automated elections in preparation for the coming Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections at the Pasong Tamo School in Quezon City on Aug. 8, 2023. <em>Jire Carreon, ABS-CBN News</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Tuesday held test runs of automated barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections ahead of the scheduled local polls in October.</p><p>Comelec chairperson George Erwin Garcia said mock automated village polls were held in Dasmariñas, Cavite and in District 6, Quezon City.</p><p>Some 60,000 voters took part in the mock polls in Quezon City, while 40,000 voters joined in Cavite.</p><p>&quot;Okay naman po, at nasubukan natin kung gaano kabilis at kaepektibo ang automated, kahit pa ito&#x27;y barangay and SK elections,&quot; Garcia told TeleRadyo Serbisyo.</p><p>(It was okay. We finally got to see how fast and effective automated elections are, even if they&#x27;re barangay and SK elections.)</p><p>But the poll body chair clarified that the upcoming village and youth council elections on October 30 would remain manual.</p><p>&quot;Talagang manual po... ang [barangay and SK elections] ng Oktubre 2023. Kaya minarapat po ng Comelec na bago lumabas ang desisyon ng Supreme Court, minarapat po na magkaroon tayo ng pilot test para po sana ang plano ng Comelec na iyong susunod na [barangay and SK elections] which is supposedly dapat 2026, ay automated na,&quot; he said.</p><p>(The barangay and SK polls this October will be manual. That is why the Comelec conducted a pilot test of automated polls so that the next village polls, which was supposed to be in 2026, would be automated.)</p><p>&quot;Eh kaya lang po ang sabi po ng Korte Suprema, ang susunod na eleksyon natin ay December of 2025,&quot; added Garcia, referring to a Supreme Court decision that would only give winners of the 2023 barangay polls 2-year terms.</p><p>(But the Supreme Court ruled that the next barangay polls be held in December 2025.)</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/06/28/23/2-year-term-awaits-2023-bske-winners">2-year term awaits 2023 BSKE winners</a></li></ul><p>Due to the Supreme Court ruling, Garcia said the poll body eyed renting vote-counting machines for two elections set in 2025: the midterm national and local polls in May, and the next barangay and SK polls in December.</p><p>&quot;Kaya naman po naming isagawa ang [barangay elections na] automated kung ito po ay mangyayari... sa December 2025,&quot; he said.</p><p>(We can manage conducting automated barangay elections in December 2025.)</p><p>Meanwhile, plans to simulate mall voting were also underway, Garcia said, with some tests to be held in the coming weeks.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/26/23/at-least-20-malls-to-serve-as-voting-sites-in-bske-comelec">At least 20 malls to participate as voting sites in barangay, SK elections: Comelec</a></li></ul><div><strong>FROM THE ARCHIVES: </strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2433927" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

But the Comelec chair George Garcia clarified that the upcoming village and youth council polls on October 30 would remain manual.