Over 8,500 voters are expected to participate in the mock elections to be conducted by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Saturday as part of its preparations for the 2019 polls.
At a news conference on Thursday, Comelec spokesman James B. Jimenez said the mock polls will be held in 60 areas and serve as the end-to-end test for the readiness of their automated election system (AES).
In the National Capital Region (NCR), the mock polls will be held in clustered precincts in Quezon City, Manila, Pasig, Taguig, Pateros, Valenzuela City, and Muntinlupa City.
The mock elections will also be held in the provinces Pangasinan, Cagayan, Sorsogon, Camarines Sur, Cebu, Bohol, Zamboanga Del Norte, Davao del Sur, South Cotobato, Sulu, and Basilan.
“The mock elections will test and ensure the security features, accuracy, and functional capability of all of these [AES] elements,” Jimenez said.
New improvements
During the mock polls, Comelec Information Officer Leo Lim said they will also be testing the new format for the ballots they will use for the 2019 polls.
“Candidates for senators and local positions will be at the front face of the ballots while the party-list groups will be at the back,” Lim said.
In previous elections, candidates for senators and party-lists groups were in the front face of the ballot, while those running for local positions were in the back.
Comelec said the measure aims to “optimize” the space in the ballot.
Over 76 fictitious individual candidates will be featured in the fake ballot, including Kobe Bryant, Any Murray, and Rafael Nadal, who are all running as senators.
It also featured 400 faux party-list groups like Maroon 5, Spurs, and Kilusang Chaka Dolls.
Enhanced receipts and software
Jimenez said they also updated the content of the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) or the voter receipts, which, he said, previously looked as plain as “receipts issued by cashiers.”
He said the new VVPAT now contains security features such as a QR Code and system hash.
As an additional improvement for the 2019 elections, Jimenez said they also included upgrades in the software of the Vote Counting Machines (VCM).
He said the VCMs now have better encryption and data saving capability to make its use more secure and efficient.
Comelec will deploying 90 VCMs and 86 laptops with Consolidated Canvassing System (CCS), and some Voter Registration Verification Machines (VRVM) for the event.
Jimenez said the voting period for all of the covered areas except three barangays in NCR, will be from 6 a.m. to 12 noon.
He said the voting period for Brgy. Pinagbuhatan, 2nd District, Pasig City; Brgy. Bahay Toro, 1st District, Quezon City; and Brgy. 669, 5th District, Manila will be longer at 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. due to the expected number of voters in the said areas.