PCOS MAchine: Have you any idea about it?

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May Elections in the Philippines is nearing.Have you got you own list of candidates to vote already? I think you have already. Have you got any idea on how a PCOS (Precinct Count Optical Scanner) Machine really works? The government is already having paid ads in TVs on how to use it effectively on the election day so some have ideas about it aleady. I was lucky to be selected as a member of the Board of Election Inspectors on that special day in the Philippines. So one of the duties given to us is to disseminate information about the PCOS machine for voters to vote effectively on May. Well, for those who doesn't have any idea about it yet, maybe this could help. A voter on the election day doesn't have to touch anything in the PCOS machine. The BEIs are the one to set the machine up before opening the precinct for voters. So it's a wrong notion that those who have no knowledge in computers couldn't vote. All a voter do regarding the PCOS is to insert the ballot once that he/she have already shaded the ovals for the candidates he/she has selected to vote for. If the PCOS machine returns the ballot back after you have inserted it, you have to check again if you have shaded properly the ovals. The proper way is to shade more than 50% of the oval so that the PCOS will read your vote properly. If the PCOS still returns the ballot, then call the attention of any BEI to check thoroughly your ballot. There are limited tries for you to insert a ballot, it's only four times. You could insert the ballot four ways into the machine, as long as it is inserted leghtwise, it is reversible meaning it reads the ballot back to back once you have inserted it. If you have consumed your four tries then your ballot will be marked as an invalid ballot so be careful about this. Don't leave unnecessary marks or tear the ballot especially on the bar codes on the sides of the ballot. Doing so may make your ballot invalid too. There are no replacement for invalid ballots so you will no longer be given another one if your ballot is rejected by the PCOS. There is only one ballot per voter so use it carefully, you don't want to have your vote useless, do you?