Elections Commission Ready: Over 1,000 Advanced Polling Materials Set for 2025 Davao City Elections (Paraphrased)
Preparing for the 2025 Davao Elections
Get ready for the May 12, 2025 elections in Davao City, as the Commission on Elections-Davao Region (Comelec-Davao) deploys a whopping 1,173 Automated Counting Machines (ACMs) across the city. These machines will be distributed based on the number of registered voters per district, with District 1 receiving 418 machines, District 2 getting 385, and District 3 taking home 370.
Back in January 2025, Comelec-Davao made headlines by announcing that a grand total of 4,189 ACMs would be used across the entire Davao Region for the 2025 National and Local Elections (NLE).
As part of their voter education campaign, Comelec-Davao has been putting on ACM demonstrations since December 2024, reaching even the remotest barangays to educate voters about the automated voting process. Their campaign finally wrapped up on January 30, 2025.
The ACMs set to grace Davao City will be housed safely at the Davao City Police Office (DCPO) headquarters starting May 1. From there, they'll be delivered to polling stations, with final testing and sealing scheduled from May 2 to 7.
The focus on ACMs doesn't stop there. To make sure results are transmitted in real-time, Starlink satellite kits and solar panels are being installed. However, increasing concerns about logistical transparency have emerged due to the discovery of election paraphernalia in a private property in Davao’s Barangay Buhangin.
As Comelec-Davao continues to prepare for the upcoming elections, they face a number of notable challenges. Logistical scrutiny and concerns about chain-of-custody reliability have sparked following the storage of equipment in non-Comelec facilities, leading to eroded public trust. Stakeholders also seek more clarification on safeguards against technical failures, especially given past controversies over vote-counting accuracy. Ensuring peace in historically contentious areas remains another priority, but specifics on security partnerships are yet to be disclosed.
Before the election day arrives, a few key final tasks still need to be completed. Local Absentee Voting (LAV) will continue until April 30 for 57,689 qualifiers (military, police, media, and government workers)—using ACMs where available. Furthermore, rapid deployment of stored materials to city and provincial offices is underway to meet the April 15 deadlines, despite earlier logistical delays.
Lastly, the focus of Comelec-Davao's voter education campaign likely includes LAV awareness, clarifying the role of ACMs and Starlink in results transmission, and targeting media and youth through partnerships. Upcoming tasks include finalizing contingency plans and expanding transparency measures to address last-mile concerns.
- The upcoming 2025 Davao Elections will see 1,173 Automated Counting Machines (ACMs) deployed across Davao City, with District 1 receiving 418, District 2 having 385, and District 3 receiving 370.
- These concerns about logistical transparency have emerged due to the storage of equipment in non-Comelec facilities, leading to eroded public trust.
- Stakeholders also seek more clarification on safeguards against technical failures, especially given past controversies over vote-counting accuracy.
- As part of their voter education campaign, Comelek-Davao has been reaching even the remotest barangays to educate voters about the automated voting process using ACMs.
- Local Absentee Voting (LAV) will continue until April 30 for 57,689 qualifiers (military, police, media, and government workers)—using ACMs where available.
- To make sure results are transmitted in real-time, Starlink satellite kits and solar panels are being installed on the ACMs for the 2025 Davao Elections.
