Manila: The Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) on Monday recommended restoring the original sensitivity threshold of automated counting machines (ACMs) to 25 percent. The organization expressed concerns that the current 15-percent setting may be too sensitive, potentially leading to ballot-reading issues.
According to Philippines News Agency, PPCRV spokesperson Ana Singson highlighted in a press briefing that the threshold might have been lowered excessively this year. Singson suggested reverting to the 25 percent sensitivity level used in 2022, a setting believed to be more effective in reducing errors.
Complaints received by PPCRV indicated that certain parts of ballots were being marked as overvoting, a problem potentially linked to the increased sensitivity of the ACMs. With the current threshold, any oval shaded at least 15 percent on the ballot could be registered as a vote by the machine.
Singson noted that a complete analysis is still underway, but preliminary observations suggest that smudge-related issues might originate from ink residue or the handling of ballots. PPCRV is actively collecting election returns nationwide to compare transmitted results with physical copies, aiming to evaluate the extent of these discrepancies.
