The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Monday started testing 6,500 voting machines ahead of the Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections on September 14 to ensure the reliability of the automated voting system.

Comelec Chairman George Garcia said the machines are undergoing hardware acceptance tests to identify and replace defective units before they are officially accepted for use in the elections.

The poll body is also set to conduct simulation exercises, technical evaluations, and logic and accuracy tests as part of its certification process before the system is fully deployed.

As an additional safeguard, Comelec proposed raising the machines’ vote-detection threshold from 15 percent to 25 percent to address concerns over ballot mark recognition and improve voter confidence.

The commission is likewise strengthening contingency measures, including the establishment of repair hubs in every province and the deployment of at least 10 backup machines in each municipality.

Of the 6,500 voting machines scheduled for delivery, more than 1,000 will be reserved as standby units to prevent disruptions on election day, while Comelec continues to review the classification of election-related violence incidents amid reported discrepancies in official data. — Vito Barcelo