The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is now selling its over 80,000 units of old Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS), which were last used in the 2013 elections.
In a notice, the Comelec Disposal Committee (CDC) it would auction off the 81,755 PCOS units for over P187 million or P2,293.75 per unit.
The submission and opening of bid tenders for the said units was supposed to be held on August 10, 2021, but was rescheduled after Metro Manila was placed under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) last Friday.
CDC Chairman J. Thaddeus Hernan said the online event would now be held on August 23, 2021 through Microsoft Teams.
The PCOS was the first generation of voting machines used by the poll body since it started implementing the automated election system in 2010.
Comelec initially leased the said units from Smartmatic-Total Information Management, but in 2013 it decided to purchase the same units for P1.8 billion.
97,145 units of Vote Counting Machines (VCM), which were used by Comelec in the 2016 and 2019 polls eventually, replaced the PCOS machines.
The VCMs will also be used in the 2022 National and Local elections.