Why the 2010 Election Automation is a “Disaster Waiting to Happen”

Posted on June 22nd, 2009. Written by Rico.

Lito Banayo does a great job detailing how the new election system—if implemented—would go. He especially calls attention to how automating the ballots may require printing 300+ names on a sheet of paper.

Remember, in manual voting, each of these positions are simply printed, with an underlined space on which the voter writes his choices. In the automated system, where both voting and canvass is done through a printed ballot fed into a machine, voters will need to shade an oval space beside the printed names of each of the candidates of each of these positions. So the ballot will contain some 300 names of persons or parties. Go figure how this can be done.

In the manual system official ballot, the fonts used are probably 24. In the automated system, will they use font 8? That will make it extremely difficult for senior citizens with poor eyesight, and worse for those who have not been properly initiated into the new system, as in the country’s hinterlands and islands where the Comelec’s “massive” information program may not connect. The ridiculous alternative is to use large font, but that would make the ballot as long as two meters.

With over 11 billion pesos allotted for the election automation process, you’d think the COMELEC would’ve insisted on touch-screen machines, as well as the back-ups needed to keep them going in case of power blackouts or what not. A touch-screen machine can present the list of over 300 candidates in a more manageable manner, by separating the list into pages, showing the list of presidential candidates first, the VP candidates next, etc. (Although making a user jump through more virtual pages creates its own share of problems, it’s still less confusing than a large paper ballot with tiny names and ovals) A touch-screen machine can also print out votes, as a hard copy back-up in case the data on the system becomes compromised.

Admittedly, these kind of machines can be intimidating (I’ve actually seen people who’ve seen a computer for the first time literally shake in the presence of one), which is why Banayo’s other point—has proper testing been done?—is equally crucial: “Has Comelec done a time and motion simulation, using, not James Vergara or some disciple of Garcillano in Intramuros, but Juan de la Cruz from Isla Puting Bato and Petra Dalosig from Lakewood in Zamboanga del Sur?”

Exactly. Based on Banayo’s writings, it’s clear that the current election automation system has potential flaws that make disaster likely, and that fact isn’t helped by the COMELEC’s apparent lack of usability testing. Even if the COMELEC can’t or won’t require the election automation provider to provide usability testing, they can learn a lot online:

Banner Blindness in Ballot Design
Ballot Usability in Florida