The Philippines: The first-ever automated elections in Southeast Asia

In May 2010 the Republic of the Philippines carried out the first automated elections in Southeast Asia. It was also the largest election that a private company has ever undertaken.

50.7 million voters spread over 7,107 islands used 82,200 optical scanner voting machines to cast over 800 million votes to whittle 85,000 candidates down to 17,000 posts.

For the first time, Filipinos got to learn results on Election Day. In just one and a half hours after the polls closed, 40% of results had been transmitted and tallied.

In past elections, for example in 2004, 40 days were spent counting votes manually in order to proclaim the newly elected President. Such delays eroded faith in the system and often led to violence.

Not only did we deliver results quickly. We also delivered results that were accepted by all participating political parties, thanks to the transparency of the system. And in doing so we made a significant contribution to this nation’s democratic process.