The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is set to conduct mock polls in two First District towns in the province to test voting processes and new equipment ahead of the midterm elections in May.

According to Comelec Bohol’s new supervisor Atty. Eddie Aba, the poll body’s head office chose the Alburquerque Central Elementary School and Dangay Elementary School in Alburquerque town and Barangays Poblacion and Malayo Norte in Cortes as testing sites.

Both towns, Alburquerque and Cortes, are among 26 testing areas chosen by the Comelec nationwide.

A total of 100 voters including persons with disability and senior citizens will take part in the exercise which will start at 6 a.m. on Saturday, said Aba.

The Comelec will utilize vote counting machines and enlist the aid of Board of Election Inspectors.

Processing such as transmission of results to the Comelec head office and voter recognition using the Voter Registration Verification System or biometrics will also be tried out.

Using fingerprints, voters will immediately be recognized through their biometrics and photos.

Manual voting will also be conducted alongside its automated counterpart to compare results, as practiced in previous mock elections. (rt)