How the new automated counting machines work

No less than the chairman of the Commission on Elections made a demo Friday of the new automated counting machines, which will be used in the 2025 midterm elections.

Comelec Chairman George Garcia said the new machines, which were built according to the poll body’s recommendations, have 14-inch screens, uses 95 gsm paper instead of the thicker 160 gsm paper, and can scan 200mm of the ballot per second.

The demo showed the machine scanning and counting the votes on a ballot in just 15 seconds, along with the printing of the receipt.

Lithium batteries used by the machines can last up to 3 days without recharging.

Garcia said voters cannot take pictures of their ballots on Election Day to prevent vote-buying.

The Comelec is renting a total of 110,000 automated counting machines for the 2025 elections, for P15 billion.