Press Release
July 2, 2009

AUTOMATED ELECTIONS SHOULD PUSH THROUGH AND ENSURE CREDIBLE TRANSITION OF POWER - ANGARA ON COMELEC

Senator Edgardo J. Angara calls on COMELEC to look at options and advance efforts to ensure an automated 2010 elections.

With the advent of Total Information Management Corp.'s (TIM) withdrawal from its joint venture with Smartmatic to supply Commission on Elections (COMELEC) with poll automation machines, Angara urges concerned parties to settle their differences and put national concern as a priority.

"Through automation we can ensure a credible transition of power and have clean, honest and orderly 2010 elections," said Angara who authored the automated election law.

He added, "Setting up the country's automated electoral system is a crucial step toward clean and honest elections. While it will not be a cure-all for the country's electoral problems, automating the polls will eliminate a lot of the human intervention that has made vote-rigging possible."

Angara, who led Senate deliberations on Commission on Election's (Comelec) P11-billion supplemental budget for poll automation, said that he is optimistic that an automated electoral system will facilitate fair and honest elections, provide a new set of government leaders with an unquestionable authority, and unite the country in facing the challenges ahead of us.

"The heart of a true democracy lies in achieving clean and honest elections which provide mandate and authority to elect public officials. Our laws mandate the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) to use an automated election system in the conduct of national and local elections to encourage transparency, credibility, fairness and accuracy of elections," said Angara

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