Three automated counting machines (ACMs) with defective USBs (Universal Serial Bus) intended for three clustered precincts in Mabinay, Negros Oriental were fixed on Friday, May 9, and are ready for the midterm elections on Monday, May 12.

A final testing and sealing (FTS) was held in Mabinay after the USBs were reconfigured earlier at an official Commission on Elections (Comelec) hub in capital Dumaguete City, said Lionel Marco Castillano, the Comelec-Negros Island Region director.

He explained that during the May 6 schedule for the FTS in Negros Oriental, they received reports later in the day that the main USBs were not functioning.

He explained that the backup USBs could not be used as the interface devices are attached to the original ACMs.

“The ACMs had to be brought to the hub here for reconfiguration as we are not allowed to deploy the technical staff to do the repair in Mabinay,” Castillano said.

Affected by the USB malfunction were Barangay Lumbangan Clustered Precinct 40 with 799 registered voters; Barangay Tara Clustered Precinct 67 with 749 voters; and Barangay Hagtu Clustered Precinct 32 with 538 voters.

The reconfiguration was done the following day, but the Comelec had to wait until May 9 for the FTS to give ample time for candidates, poll watchers, volunteers, and other stakeholders to attend the activity.

Meanwhile, Castillano assured that in the event of a similar problem on Monday, technical teams are on standby to immediately respond and fix USB problems and other issues.

The Comelec-NIR director said there could be a delay in the voting, but these issues are insignificant to impact the elections.

An option is for mass feeding of ballots once a defective ACM is fixed or a contingency replacement is deployed, Castillano added. (PNA)