Three automated counting machines (ACM) intended for mall voting in this city were the subjects of the final testing and sealing (FTS) on Monday and were all found to be working and ready for the May 12 midterm polls.

“The purpose is to show to the public that the machines are working and accurate; that’s why we have the so-called mock elections,” Commission on Elections-Iloilo City Election Officer IV, lawyer Pinky Jevini Tentativa, said in a media interview.

These machines will serve clustered precincts 299, 300, and 301 of Barangay Airport, Mandurriao, where voters will cast their ballots at the Festive Walk Mall, one of the city’s designated mall voting venues.

Thirty registered voters were tapped to join the mock polls.

Barangay Kagawad Jackelyn Deocampo, who took part in the test, said the process was efficient and convenient.

A voter can finish casting in 10 to 15 minutes as long as they already know whom to vote.

“It is more convenient. The place is air-conditioned and accessible. So far, so good that they have it in a mall,” Deocampo said in vernacular.

Following the successful test, Tentativa said the ACMs were sealed and will remain secured until election day, when they will be opened at 4 a.m.

“Malls have designated storage facility, 24/7 guarded by our PNP (Philippine National Police), the security of the mall and with CCTV (closed circuit television) cameras as provided in the memorandum of agreement executed between Comelec and the malls,” she added.

The final testing and sealing for the remaining 414 ACMs—intended for the city’s other clustered precincts—is scheduled for May 7.

She added that the city’s official ballots are already in the custody of the City Treasurer’s Office.

In the meantime, Comelec Iloilo announced on Monday that it has already received automated election system equipment and other election paraphernalia, including 2,688 bundles of official ballots good for 1,649,730 registered voters of the city and province of Iloilo, 2,688 ACMs, 378 contingency machines, 2,643 batteries, 242 contingency batteries,2,643 ballot boxes, and 45 consolidated canvassing system kits. (PNA)