Where were the UV lamps?
By TheAdvocate
@TheAdvocate (2392)
Philippines
May 20, 2010 7:17am CST
In the news today were the UV lamps supposedly for the elections. I suddenly remembered that my precinct did not have a UV lamp when I voted. The winning bidder says that they delivered to Comelec while Comelec seemed ignorant why the UV lamps were not delivered to the precincts.
Come to think of it, where were the UV lamps? Did your precinct have one? Did you get to use it? Should the winning bidder be penalized for the non-delivery of the lamps to the precinct?
2 people like this
3 responses
@ybong007 (6643)
• Philippines
21 May 10
it's supposed to be part of the package. Since it's part of the package then it was paid for already by our taxes. I wonder why no one mentioned about the missing UV lights before because if my memory serves me right, the function of that UV light is to ensure that the ballots are authentic. I think Comelec is the right who should have ensured that those UV lights were included in the deliveries.
1 person likes this
@TheAdvocate (2392)
• Philippines
21 May 10
I think it was not Smartmatic who got the contract for the UV lamps. They did bid, if memory serves me right. Now that you mention it, I guess therein lay the problem. All the other election paraphernalia were contracted out to Smartmatic. So when they transported those, the Comelec forgot all about the UV lamps. Remember the Ballot Secrecy Folder which cost a fortune? In the end the teachers had to make their own folders. I think this is one more boo-boo for the Comelec.
@aprilten (1966)
• Philippines
21 May 10
In the precinct where I voted there was no UV lamp and I also forgot about it. However, in my husband's precinct there was one and he asked for it. So, probably there was a UV lam in our precinct but since I didn't look for it they didn't use. Well, that's just my presumption.
@TheAdvocate (2392)
• Philippines
21 May 10
Where's your husband's precinct? You're the first one to say that there were UV lamps sent to precincts. Honestly, I was too upset by the long lines and the heat that I just wanted to get it over and done with. The news did say that there were precincts without UV lamps. Even in the polling place where I served as PPCRV, I did not see UV lamps there. I guess it was really forgotten. But how come they had for some and none for others?
@aprilten (1966)
• Philippines
22 May 10
His precinct was in San Francisco Elementary School located in Barangay Del Monte, Frisco, Quezon City. He also had too much trouble before he was able to finally cast his votes. But in my precinct it took me less than 30 minutes to vote. Me and my siblings were surprised to know that we were actually at the end of the line right at the door of the precinct. So, we were not among those who had to wait two hours or more to be able to vote. My husband was so surprised when I texted him that I have voted coz he left the house 2 hours before me.
@rsa101 (37932)
• Philippines
21 May 10
Yeah the controversial lamps were indeed missing in the delivery. I guess the delivery was made late already and they decided not to deliver it already. I am just wondering what purpose will it serve in the election?
There are indeed lots of things that Comelec should attend to in this automated election. Although there was a swift delivery of the count but still there are things that they need to answer for the election not being able to meet the expectation of the many.
@TheAdvocate (2392)
• Philippines
21 May 10
In case of power interruptions... :-) Just kidding, they are for authenticating the ballots.
Yes, this is one more thing that the Comelec forgot. We were so excited about the PCOS machines that we forgot all the other election paraphernalias. But we paid for this so the voters should have been able to use them. I wonder what Comelec will do with all those UV lamps.
1 person likes this
@rsa101 (37932)
• Philippines
21 May 10
The last few days before the elections Comelec went on panic mode as there were many things that transpired like delayed delivery of PCOS machines and worst was the delivery of the reconfigured flash cards. That was the last minute things they were frantically doing the last few days before May 10. They decided not to deliver the UV lamps anymore because they said it was not a very important part of the election process. Oh well maybe next time they would have a much organized delivery of the needed paraphernalias. I think they should return it to their supplier and not pay that anymore since it was never used at all.
@TheAdvocate (2392)
• Philippines
21 May 10
The last few days really showed how ill-prepared the Comelec was for the elections. I don't think its the job of the contractor to deliver the UV lamps to the precincts. It was negligent of Comelec to forget about all the other election paraphernalias.
1 person likes this
