THOMASIANS could now probably count on a fast and more accurate election in the coming years.
The Central Commission on Elections (Comelec) implemented the first automated, synchronized elections last Feb. 17 at the College of Nursing (Nursing) to make the elections faster and to lessen the burden of manually counting the ballots.
“Before, students would have to wait for at least a day to know the election results. Now that the automated elections are implemented, the on-line results could be viewed in minutes after the poll closed,” Nursing Comelec chairman Mark Magallones said.
Magallones said the use of computers during elections was long overdue. The Comelec had been requesting for an automated poll even before the 2006 elections.
Magallones assured the students that the automated poll would strengthen the credibility of elections in the University.
“Contrary to what other people were saying, the Comelec did not encounter any problems of hacking or power failure during the elections,” he said. “I do not think that the system can be hacked since if it is possible, then our grades can also be hacked.”
The Central Comelec has released the guidelines for the implementation of a computerized election in the different colleges and faculties next year.
According to the Central Comelec, each college and faculty should write a letter to the Comelec requesting that the election be conducted online via the Universitiy’s Blackboard Learning Management System.
Automated elections orientation and training would also be given by e-LEAP community portal coordinators to the members of the local Comelec.
