Barcodes will allow GPS to follow packages from warehouse to municipalities

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is arranging for a tracking system that it says will ensure the safe and on time deliver of ballots to municipalities nationwide for the 2010 elections.

Commissioner Gregorio Larazzabal told reporters Wednesday that barcodes will be installed in each packet of ballots. The barcode will be tracked though a GPS system, thus allowing the poll body to know the path of the ballot packages from the time they leave the warehouses in Manila to the municipalities.

Larazzabal said that the barcodes, distinct for each municipality, will be issued as soon as the ballots are printed.

The commissioner said the Comelec en banc is set to deliberate on the details of the system.

Larazzabal compared the planned ballot tracking system to the one being used by courier companies, where barcodes are attached to packages to monitor the path of their delivery.

This system, he said, will “allow commissioners to ensure that ballots will arrive at their designated places…. It’s easier to ensure that ballots will be delivered [safely and properly].”

Site survey
Larazzabal also told reporters that the site survey, which determines the availability and reach of telecommunication signals in all precincts the country, is about 98% completed.

However, site survey in Maguindanao province has been temporarily stopped, owing to the tensions from the election-related massacre of civilians on Monday.

Comelec chair Jose Melo told reporters on Tuesday that field workers are afraid to roam around the province to conduct the site survey.

Larazzabal said that they will be meeting with election representatives from Maguindanao to discuss contingency measures.

Larazzabal admitted that, given the developments in the preparation for the polls, the Comelec has a “tight but still workable schedule.”

He said the Comelec, together with machine provider Smartmatic, will ensure a 100% telecommunication reach nationwide. (Newsbreak)