Despite criticism of its decision to reject with finality the printing of receipts for voters, the Commission on Elections said it may consider using the feature in the future if Congress extends the voting period to more than one day.
Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista told reporters that it may be time to hold elections for several days to allow voters to get printed receipts.
“I think we should have receipts, hopefully at some point in the future. But we have to change the current election system,” Bautista said.
Bautista said Congress may also opt to change the system of synchronizing national and local elections.
“We should think [about] why we only have elections for one day. Why can’t we have elections for several days?” he asked.
He insisted that printing a voter’s receipt would take a longer time than what is allotted and may stall the voting process.
Bautista insisted that Congress has to approve before Comelec can enable the receipt-printing feature of its vote-counting machines.
On Saturday, both Lipa Archbishop Ramon Arguelles and Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo rejected the decision of the Comelec, saying it could cast doubts on the credibility of the May 9 elections.
“It is clear that Comelec is breaking the law and depriving people of their right to be assured that their vote is counted,” Arguelles said.
Senate candidate Richard Gordon has asked the Supreme Court to order the Comelec to activate the receipt-printing feature.
Bautista said that if the court rules in favor of Gordon, Comelec will be set back in its preparations for the election.
Meanwhile, following the approval of the on-screen verification feature of the vote-counting machines, a former elections commissioner urged Comelec on Sunday to extend the voting period for another two hours.
In an interview, former Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal called on Bautista to consider extending the voting period from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. to give voters more time.
“I think they should revisit the voting hours,” Larrazabal said.
On Friday, Comelec approved the on-screen verification feature, which would allow voters to review their votes on-screen before the machine accepts the ballots.
Bautista said the viewing will take an additional 15 seconds per voter or a total of 2 hours and 30 minutes for the 800 voters expected in each clustered precinct.
“This is a bit of a gamble,” Bautista said, adding that it may delay voting on May 9.
Larrazabal was one of the election officials who supervised the first nationwide automated elections in 2010.
Last month, the Comelec en banc announced that it was shortening the voting period from 12 hours to 10 hours because it wanted to transmit results to the central server earlier.