Apart from carefully choosing his candidates during elections, Von is also meticulous when shading his ballot.

He worries whether the machine can read his vote if the ballot is torn or crumpled.

But with the new automated counting machines COMELEC will use in the 2025 midterm elections, votes on damaged ballots can still be counted.

This was demonstrated during the Automated Counting Machine Road Show launched by COMELEC yesterday.

The first demonstration was held with personnel from the Baguio City Police Office.

To test the machine’s capability, one side of a ballot was torn before being fed into the machine.

After a few seconds, the machine initially rejected it, but on the second attempt, it successfully read the votes.

The machine was also tested for over-voting and under-voting.

Aside from these features, the new automated counting machines have upgrades but remain similar to the previous vote-counting machines (VCMs).

Although the screen is larger, there’s a privacy panel to prevent others from seeing the voter’s choices.

This demonstration also helps the Baguio City Police Office prepare its security measures for the upcoming elections.

During the simulation, Corrie Brosnan won the mock mayoral race with 16 votes against Tara Marie Aniston, who garnered five votes.

COMELEC assures the public that this demonstration highlights the machine’s reliability and safeguards against election fraud.

Mock ballots, not official ones, were used in the demonstration.

COMELEC also reminds the public that intentionally tearing or damaging ballots is an election offense punishable by imprisonment of one to six years.

COMELEC plans to continue its roadshow in other areas to familiarize the public with the use of the ACMs.

**CHARLES NIKKO LIMON