Come 2010, the Philippines will have its national election, and we are again talking about automated election as usual. The difference of this 2010 election is that we have a new leader in the Commission on Elections (Comelec) by the name of Chairman Jose Armando R. Melo.

The Comelec is now working on an 8 billion pesso supplemental appropriation from an original 13 billion peso that was adjusted to 11 billion peso.

It is more likely that an optical mark reader (OMR) system will be used for 2010, the same system deployed for the August 2008 polls in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). The OMR will require voters to shade the names of the candidates and the ballots will be read by a machine.

If this procedure pushes through, is it not possible that we use the Lotto machines scattered all over the country? Our Lotto machines here use the same procedure, where punters also need to shade or mark their favorite numbers, pay the bet, with the card inserted into a machine where the numbers will be read. Then a piece of paper would be printed showing the chosen numbers, signifying that the bet has been accepted.

Later in the day, the draw would be televised on national TV to eliminate any doubts that there was cheating.

Now, I was thinking, why doesnt' COMELEC print a card that contains numbers, with each number representing a candidate? Another paper could contain the list of candidates plus their corresponding numbers. Some of the budget should also go to awareness and educating the voting public.

Technology-wise, I believe this can be done. The question is whether the country has the will to do so. Just imagine. If we adopt the Lotto system, we could have an election carried out in the morning, and the results known before the end of the day.

Not only is this fast, it will be difficult to cheat in the polls with this kind of speed, which I think would make this suggestion unpopular.

Wishful thinking, you say? Well, there's nothing wrong with wishing, right?

God bless us all!