MANILA, Philippines--(BUSINESS WIRE)--On May 9, just 4 hours after the polls closed, the vote transmission rate stood at 80% in the Philippines General Election setting a new record for speed.
Using advanced election technology provided by London-headquartered company Smartmatic, results were registered, counted and published online in real time. The comparison with previous elections is impressive- by 8pm, just two hours after polls closed, 66% of Vote Counting Machines had transmitted their results compared to 17% in 2010.
"Leveraging technology and the committed effort of the society as a whole, we conducted a record-breaking election which delivered accurate, transparent and legitimate results and contributed to a historic turnout of 81.7%," said Andres Bautista, chairman of the Philippine Commission on Elections (Comelec).
Antonio Mugica, the Chief Executive Officer of Smartmatic, said the global election solutions company was proud to be part of the largest electronic vote-counting project in history.
"In only six years, the Philippines has become a world reference point for automation and well-run elections. This has also been a landmark in electoral automation with the largest ever manufacture and deployment of Vote Counting Machines making this a truly historic moment," Mugica added. "The Philippines has more than 55 million voters, is made up of over 7,000 islands and has one of the largest diasporas in the world. Quite simply, without technology votes would not have been processed so quickly and efficiently."
In the months before the election, comprehensive audits, reviews and certifications were conducted to show that the system was fully prepared in terms of speed, reliability and security. On election day on May 9, voters received paper copies of their ballots to validate that the system registered their votes correctly.
"The level of transparency in this election is unrivalled. For months, key stakeholders audited our technology," Mugica said. "With the combination of Smartmatic’s solutions, the guidance of Comelec and the dedication of more than 270,000 Filipino poll workers, volunteers and operators, this election is a success."
More than 92,500 of Smartmatic’s vote-counting machines were deployed across 36,805 polling centers for the election. In addition, overseas voting in 18 countries was conducted with Smartmatic technology to process paper ballots.
About Smartmatic
Founded in the United States in 2000 and headquartered in London, Smartmatic is the leading provider of voting technologies and solutions worldwide. Of the eight countries pioneering election automation, Smartmatic provides technology and services to six of them: Belgium, Brazil, Estonia, the Philippines, the United States and Venezuela. The company has managed elections across five continents, processing more than 2.5 billion votes. It serves customers with more than 600 employees in 12 offices around the world.
For more information including photos and b-roll visit https://www.smartmatic.com/news/