Comelec to scout for 2028 polls technology providers in April

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Wednesday said it will hold a voters’ fair in April to scout for the best technologies to be used in the 2028 elections.

Comelec Commissioner Ernesto Maceda Jr. said the election body will invite providers of the available technologies in the market.

He said that the Comelec also staged a voters’ fair for the conduct of the 2025 midterm elections. 

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“The intention is for us to see the doable technologies in the market. And based on that, the commission en banc will make a decision on what is ideal,” Maceda said in Filipino at the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum. 

“Of course we will take it into consideration the input of the Comelec advisory council because under the law, they are the body which was established to provide us advice and guidance when it comes to technologies,” Maceda added. 

With the conduct of the voters’ fair this year, he noted that the Comelec began preparing for the highly-anticipated elections as early as last year.

He also shared that the Comelec will begin its procurement process for the transmission and overseas voting and counting services (OVCS) this year while procuring automated counting machines (ACMs) will be done next year.

The joint venture (JV) of Ardent Networks and iOne Resources provided the Secure Electronic Transmission Services in the 2025 midterm elections while the OVCS was awarded to the JV of SMS Global and Sequent Tech Inc. 

READ: Comelec awards iOne, Ardent Networks the transmission deal for 2025 polls

Meanwhile, South Korean-based Miru Systems secured a P17.9-billion contract with the Comelec for over 110,000 ACMs used in the last elections.

Maceda also said that preparations done two years before the actual elections will allow them to focus on procuring machines a year before the elections.

He noted that this had been a practice under the leadership of Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia.

“When you have separate providers for different systems, whether the system component will work is not an issue but the larger issue is will they interconnect?” Maceda pointed out. 

When asked how the Comelec will assess the credibility of providers joining the voters’ fair, he said that they will ensure that they have been legally operating in the market.  /gsg