Last updated on December 17, 2013

In the Philippines, the nationwide shift to electronic counting machines led to several logistical challenges during the 2010 national election. Due in part to budgetary constraints, the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) was unable to procure enough precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines to accommodate as many polling locations as under the manual election system. On Election Day the reduction in polling locations led to long lines, shortages of poll workers and poorly managed technical support for PCOS machines. There were also challenges in providing Election Day support for the electronic counting machines and in transmitting the results at the close of polling.

The transition to nationwide use of electronic counting machines during the 2010 Philippines elections presented a number of logistical challenges for election officials in preparation for Election Day. Due in part to budgetary constraints, the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) was only able to lease enough precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines to accommodate approximately 80,000 precincts. As a result, precincts had to be clustered, significantly reducing the number of precincts, down from approximately 250,000 in 2007. Instead of 200 voters per precinct, there were up to 1,000 voters per precinct. On Election Day, voters across the country had to wait for hours in line.  Although precincts were clustered, the number of polling station workers per precinct was not increased accordingly, which compounded the already lengthy wait times. International and domestic observers noted that this may have led to disenfranchisement of voters who could not wait or decided against waiting in long lines.

The use of PCOS machines also required significant preparations for providing real-time technical support on Election Day. A number of issues arose on Election Day, including missing or drained batteries, paper jams and precincts running out of thermal paper. Some incidents resulted in PCOS machines not being used at all on Election Day. Although the vendor, Smartmatic, claimed to have recruited and trained over 48,000 technical assistance providers to be deployed on Election Day, many election officials complained that most PCOS technicians did not have the proper skills to assist them with mechanical problems that occurred during Election Day processes.