Comelec: Voters have 4 attempts to feed ballots into ACMs for 2025 polls

Comelec headquarters in Intramuros, Manila. INQUIRER FILES

MANILA, Philippines — Voters will be given four attempts to feed their ballots into the automated counting machines (ACMs) for the 2025 elections, Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Erwin Garcia said on Thursday.

According to Garcia, this gives the ACMs enough time to find what they are looking for in a ballot, such as the poll body’s secret markings.

“On Election Day, the voters will be given four attempts to feed the ballots into the machines,” Garcia said in a press conference.

During the additional ballot verification inspection at Amoranto Stadium in Quezon City, Garcia said an ACM managed to verify a ballot after two attempts.

“If the machine does not accept the ballot right away, just feed it up to four times,” he added.

However, Garcia said if the ballot was not fed after four times, the voter would not be given an extra ballot.

READ: Comelec: No printing of excess ballots for 2025 polls

He explained that it would take the machine two seconds before it would accept the ballot.

Fourteen seconds will be allotted for the machine to identify the secret markings and if it is properly designated.

The Comelec conducts its additional ballot verification at the stadium to maximize the remaining ACMs that the National Printing Office (NPO) cannot accommodate.

READ: Comelec to use QC stadium as additional venue for ballot verification

The ballot verification is originally done at the NPO. However, its lack of space to house 500 ACMs for verification prompted the poll body to seek an additional venue.