DASMARIÑAS CITY, Cavite (PIA) -- The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) said the pilot implementation of automated Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) in Dasmariñas City and other pilot testing areas was successful due to the massive turnout of voters on October 30, Monday.

COMELEC chair George Garcia visited Dasmariñas City to oversee the automated polls in four (4) schools, including Paliparan III Elementary School, Dasmariñas Elementary School, Pitong Gubat Elementary School, and Paliparan National High School. Dasmariñas and Quezon City in Metro Manila were the two cities chosen for the conduct of the automated BSKE.

“Voting has been faster for everyone compared to manually writing down their votes,” Garcia said.

The COMELEC chief said they were prepared to address issues that could arise during the automated BSKE such as malfunctioning Vote Counting Machines (VCMs) due to paper jamming.

In Cavite Province alone, Garcia said they have 400 VCMs on standby to replace malfunctioning machines.

He added: “In fact, nung final testing and sealing [of VCMs] naranasan na po natin ito. Ito ‘yung sinasabi natin na hindi talaga maaasahang magpe-perform nang maayos mga makinang ‘yan. But just the same, ginagawa natin ito para maipakita natin ang manual election at automated election.”

Meanwhile, the Cavite Police Provincial Office said that the conduct of the 2023 barangay and SK polls went generally peaceful.

“Masasabi ko po na itong Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections ay peaceful, at inaasahan na hanggang matapos ang eleksyon ay mapapanatiiling tahimik, payapa, at maayos dito sa probinsya ng Cavite.” said Chief Provincial Public Information Officer, PCapt. Michelle Bastawang.

The COMELEC said there are 15,660,770 registered voters in the Calabarzon region for the October 2023 polls, with the highest voter turnout expected in Cavite province with 2,391,540 voters. (PB/PIA-4A, RF/PIA-Cavite; with reports from Dennis Abrina, Cavite Press Corps)