Comelec ready for 2025 BARMM polls, says exec

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is now ready to conduct the first-ever Bangsamoro parliamentary elections next year, an official said on Thursday.

During a dialogue on the Bangsamoro Electoral Code (BEC) in Davao City, Comelec Spokesperson Rex Laudiangco said the poll body is not expecting any issues with the automated counting machines (ACMs) to be used for the 2025 Bangsamoro polls.

"We expect no issues with the machines, whether or not the power interruptions are intentional,” said Laudiangco.

In May 2025, Bangsamoro Region will hold its first-ever parliamentary elections alongside the national and local elections.

Laundiangco said each stand-alone ACM has a built-in 14-inch widescreen, allowing the electorate to review their votes.

The machines have no reception capability—only a transmission feature—which manifests no obstruction of vote legitimacy.

There are also assistive devices that aid persons with disabilities (PWDs), specifically visually impaired voters, through the audio produced from the headphones in reading the votes that were cast.

With 84 hours of battery life, ACMs are also resilient to power outages, resulting in no hampering of poll experiences, the Comelec official said.

“Indeed, what we need to focus on is not the technology-based problems; rather, it is the issues such as vote buying, terrorism, and threats to the Electoral Board, among others," said Laudiangco.

The dialogue was attended by 25 media partners and 15 civil society organizations (CSOs) from across BARMM and Davao City, the event was spearheaded by the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD), a United Kingdom public body dedicated to strengthening democracy around the world, and the Ateneo School of Government (ASOG) through the Political Participation for Greater Electoral Integrity (PARTICIPATE) BARMM.

The PARTICIPATE BARMM is a non-partisan and pro-democracy coalition dedicated to engaging and empowering the political participation of the Filipino people.

In March 2023, the Bangsamoro Transition Authority passed the Bangsamoro Electoral Code, which will allow democratic participation in the local and regional elections.

It would also open the creation of political parties in the region with representations from women, youth, indigenous people, settler communities, traditional leaders, and the Ulama.

The first-ever election in the Bangsamoro Region was scheduled to be conducted in May 2022 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. —RF, GMA Integrated News