The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Monday said the June 27 simulation exercises for the automated election system (AES) that will be used in the Sept. 14 first-ever regular parliamentary polls for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) were successful.
In a statement, Comelec Chairman George Garcia said that mock elections were successfully conducted in Cotabato City, Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao del Norte and in Bongao, Tawi-Tawi.
“Our transmission of data was perfect and without interruption,” Garcia said, adding that those who participated in the mock voting were satisfied.
The National Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) and the Institute for Autonomy and Governance, both non-government organizations serving as election watchdogs in BARMM, corroborated Garcia’s assessment.
The Comelec Bangsamoro Parliament Elections Monitoring Center reported that a total of 500 voters participated in the simulation exercises, with 50 voters per clustered precinct.
“We are satisfied, happy to see the faces of our candidates in the official ballot. The process is not complex, it’s simple,” said Abdull Tolondatu, one of the voters in Barangay Kalanganan, Cotabato City, referring to the voting that started at 7 a.m. until 10 a.m.
Garcia said the results were transmitted to the respective servers of the Comelec, dominant majority, dominant minority, media, Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting and Namfrel in such a short period of time.
The first-ever parliamentary elections in the BARMM are scheduled for Sept. 14 and will use the automated election system unless the Supreme Court orders otherwise following petitions challenging the validity of regional laws governing the political exercise.
There are 2,393,530 registered voters in BARMM to cast votes in 1,186 voting centers across BARMM’s 2,185 villages.
Voters are to elect 32 parliamentary district representatives, 40 political party nominees and eight sectoral representatives. (PNA)