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By CARMELA FONBUENA /Newsbreak
The Commission on Elections today allayed fears that the high illiteracy rate in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao will affect the success of the upcoming automated elections on August 11.

Earlier, some expressed fear that many voters may be disenfranchised because of their unfamiliarity with computers. ARMMs functional literacy rate is at 62.9 percent, lower than the national average of 84.1 percent.

"Literacy will not be an issue. The machines are pretty simple…. The systems are very intuitive. Theres only one way to do it," Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said in a press conference today.

Smartmatic-Sahi Technology spokesman Vince Dizon added, "It is faster and easier to use the automated voting machines than it is to write the individual names of candidates in the ballots. The company was assigned take charge of automated voting in Maguindanao province and canvassing in the entire ARMM.

Two types of machines will be used in the ARMM elections. The Smartmatic-Sahis direct recording equipment , which will be used in Maguindano, will require voters to press their votes on a touch screen. The Optical Media Reader which will be used in the five other provinces of ARMM—Lanao Del Sur, Shariff KAbunsuan, Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi—and operated by Avante International Technology will require "voters to simply shade te circles beside the candidates name," said Leo Querubin of Avnate.

Comelec and the partner companies will also start voters education next month, Jimenez said. "Avante and Smartmatic-Sahi will conduct actual machine demonstrations, show tutorial videos and distribute instructional flyers on the voting procedures to educate the ARMM voters," Jimenez said.

Comelec and the partner companies also said that theyve anticipated possible problems in security and the machines. Jimenez said they have been meeting with the Philippine National Police and Armed Forces of the Philippines .

Dizon assured the public that there will be no problems with the machines. He said they have purchased batteries for all the 3,000 units of Smartmatic-Sahis machines to prepare for the possibility of brown outs. "The machines can run in normal car batteries for 16 hours," he said.

Training of about 60 Comelec and Department of Science and Technology employees on the use of the computers in canvassing the votes was concluded today. These newly trained personnel will in turn train the local ARMM officials in mid-July.

Dizon said they are confident that the ARMM elections will be finished "well within 36 hours," as the law prescribed. Querubin is more optimistic. "We expect everything to be done within 24 hours," he said.