The Commission on Elections will be conducting mock elections in key locations throughout the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao tomorrow, 22 July 2008. This according to COMELEC spokesman James Jimenez who conducted a press briefing here in Zamboanga today.

“We are all very upbeat about the mock elections tomorrow,” Jimenez said, “it will not just be a great learning experience for us, it is also the beginning of the fulfillment of a long-cherished dream of automated elections.”

In Cotabato, Vince Dizon, spokesman for Smartmatic Sahi, also spoke with the media to announce the simultaneous conduct of tomorrow’s mock elections there.

“We’re very confident in the automated election system we’re going to use in August,” Dizon said, “and tomorrow’s exercise will reflect that confidence.”

Leo Querubin, Avante Technologies spokesman, for his part reassuref the public that “the process of perfecting the automated election system has been carried out with great care and professionalism by both technology providers and the COMELEC.”

The mock elections are an essential milestone in the development and use of an automated election system, under RA 9369. # # #