17K vote counting machines complete hardware acceptance tests —Comelec

At least 17,000 automated counting machines (ACMs) underwent the hardware acceptance test (HAT) for the 2025 national and local elections (NLE), according to the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

“Sa kasalukuyan, 17,000 na na makina ang natapos na ang hardware acceptance test. Lahat-lahat ng makina sa Biñan, Laguna ay mahigit na 30,000,” said Comelec chairperson George Erwin Garcia in a media briefing on the sidelines of the inspection of the data sites for the midterm elections in Makati City. 

(As of now, 17,000 machines have already completed the hardware acceptance test. In total, we have more than 30,000 machines in Biñan, Laguna.)

“Ang na-deliver sa atin ng iOne na Starlink ay almost 2,000…They committed they will be delivering the balance of 7,000. Lahat-lahat makakatapos tayo by November this year,” he said. 

(iOne has delivered almost 2,000 Starlink machines to us... They have committed to delivering the remaining 7,000 balance. We will be able to complete everything by November this year.)

The Comelec on Monday led a walkthrough in one of its three data server sites for the 2025 May polls. 

According to Garcia, the data centers will house the 17 servers the poll body will use for next year’s elections. 

Miru Systems Inc. will supply the servers while iOne will be contracted for the transmission of the election results. 

Garcia said storing the servers in data centers ensures their safety as the infrastructure’s features include multi-layer security as well as a continuous three-day electricity supply in case of power interruption.

“Una sa isang data center, nandyan 'yung pinakita satin 'yung generator...Kahit 'yung temperature ay assured nila. 'Yung CCTV, by means that they can see kung ano nangyayari sa loob, di lang isa, several layers din...Kailangan talaga 'yun sapagkat ito ay mga servers. Nandyan 'yung data, 'yung results,” he said. 

(In a data center, they showed us the generator... They even assured us of the temperature. The CCTV allows them to see what's happening inside, not just one, but multiple layers as well. It's really necessary because these are servers. The data and results are stored there.)

Vitro has been providing data center service to the Comelec for the 2016 and 2022 polls. 

Meanwhile, Garcia said the Comelec will publish related data from the servers after the elections. 

“Lahat ng IP address na gagamitin natin for this elections we will publish in our website. Pati audit logs, transmission logs na produkto ng servers sa Comelec. Easily after the elections pag hiningi samin ang officially ang lahat ng results..ibibigay namin,” he said. 

(All the IP addresses we'll be using for this election will be published on our website. This includes audit logs and transmission logs produced by the Comelec servers. Immediately after the election, when we're officially asked to provide all the results, we'll furnish them.) —LDF, GMA Integrated News