MANILA (PNA) — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has said it will be using precinct count optical scanners (PCOS) or automated voting machines to resolve election protest cases filed before the poll body.

Comelec Chairman Jose Melo said if there are cases that would require a recount, they will be using the machines as they forgo the manual counting of ballots.

“It is going to be a machine count... there is no way that there will be a human count,” Melo said, adding that conducting a manual count would bring back the risk of committing human errors in the process.

“That will bring back the human intervention (problem) in the manual system again, no way. After the 2010 automated elections, manual counting is obsolete,” Melo said.

He noted that the more than 800 PCOS machines planned to be purchased for the forthcoming special elections in certain provinces in September can also be utilized to count votes in protests cases.

Melo’s statement came few days after the commission’s First Division approved the protest case filed by losing Manila mayoral candidate Lito Atienza against reelected Mayor Alfredo Lim.

Atienza questioned the victory of Lim in the May 10 polls after the former lost by 214,816 votes -- garnering only 181,094 votes compared to the incumbent’s 395,910.

On May 17, Atienza, also a former Manila mayor, claimed that there were massive irregularities and errors committed in the canvassing and counting of votes that led to the non-reflection of the actual votes cast.

The protest is being perceived as a “test case” in the resolution of poll protests under the automated elections system. (PNA)