Students and representatives from member institutions of the Los Baños Science Community who attended the seminar were assured that the automated system is resistant to cheating and will provide quicker election results.

The automated process will use the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machine that scans completed ballots which voters themselves will personally feed into the machine. Voters are advised not to overvote since this will invalidate their ballot. Overvoting is voting for more candidates than the required number of slots that must be filled up for a particular position.

Meanwhile, Superintendent Kirby John Brion Kraft, Laguna Police Provincial director, discussed COMELEC Resolution 8714 or the election gun ban. Kraft said that from Jan 10 to June 9, only state forces and private security personnel in official uniform are allowed to carry or transport firearms and other deadly weapons in public places. Political candidates, meanwhile, are allowed to have two police escorts only upon request.

Peter Raul Reynaldo, executive secretary of Task Force TAGALIGTAS, a non-government organization, enjoined the audience to avoid the 5Ts in deciding whom to vote. "We should not base our choice on the title, trademark, trend, taste or treasure of a candidate, but rather, we should vote according to the candidate's moral values," he said.

Guillermo Escobin from LSPU-LB expressed concerns on the competency of the technology noting that the system might be susceptible to internet hacking during the transmission of results.

Randy Bansuela, a representative from the COMELEC, explained that apart from the number of people watching the process, the two-minute transmission will make it difficult for cheating to happen. Dr. Eulogio Castillo, a UPLB professor, encouraged everyone "to not listen to rumors that intend to disrupt this historic election so that they can still take advantage of the many flaws of the manual election."

While worries are focused on ensuring the credibility of results in the fully automated elections, Dr. Virginia Cardenas, vice chancellor for community affairs, emphasized the need to educate people on how to vote using the automated election system. Dr. Cardenas encouraged other colleges and departments to conduct similar seminars because the success of the 2010 election, according to her, is crucial to the Philippine economy.

The seminar was held in cooperation with the PNP Region 4A CALABARZON, COMELEC and Task Force Tagaligtas. (OVCCA Release)