THE Commission on Elections has tapped Smartmatic Corp.-Total Information Management Corp. (Smartmatic-TIM) to refurbish the vote counting machines (VCM) it will use for the 2022 polls.
The poll body awarded the service contract to Smartmatic after the multinational election technology provider won the competitive bidding for it, tendering a bid of P637,443,308.45.
The contract has an approved budget of P660,741,660.47.
In a notice, Comelec Chairman Sheriff Abas said Smartmatic could now execute the Contract Agreement CA21-05-019, entitled “Contract for the Procurement of Vote Counting Machines (VCMS) Refurbishment with Consumables.”
Under the contract, Smartmatic will refurbish 97,145 units of VCMs.
It will also have to supply 109,745 pieces of Secure Digital (SD) Cards (Main) and Worm SD Cards (Back-up) and 250,000 pieces of cleaning sheets.
Aside from the refurbishment contract, Smartmatic also won the over P400-million contract to provide for the automated election system (AES) software to be used in the 2022 elections.
Smartmatic has been the official vote counting machine supplier of Comelec since the 2010 polls, the country’s first automated national elections.
Poll watchdogs have been
demanding that the firm be banned from participating in bidding for Comelec contracts due to its supposed lapses and its irregularities in the delivery of its services.