Comelec starts RMA for May elections in Pasay

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) commenced the Random Manual Audit (RMA) for the May 12 midterm elections in Pasay City on Wednesday.

Dir. Abigail Claire Llacuna of Comelec's Education and Information Department stated that the audit involves 762 clustered precincts and one online voting post at Citadines Bay City Manila, with over 60 auditing teams from the Department of Education (DepEd) participating.

The RMA aims to validate the count of vote-counting machines by manually examining ballots for senator, party-list group, congressional representative, and mayor positions.

Section 29 of the Automated Election System Act mandates a random manual audit in one precinct per congressional district chosen randomly by Comelec.

Other members of the RMA Committee include representatives from various government agencies and civil society organizations such as the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) and the Legal Network for Truthful Elections.

Comelec Chairperson George Garcia noted that since 2010, the accuracy rate between manual and automated counting results has been 99.9 percent.