The 2010 Election will be automated next year because of these developments NAMFREL decided to forego next years election quick count.

But instead they will still conduct a parallel tally for audit purposes, NAMFREL will deal mostly with technical matters in the election system such as the bidding process, training of volunteers for the automated polls and auditing of the results.

Under the law, one copy of the election returns (ER) will have to be provided to the accredited citizen’s arm. Namfrel-PPCRV will file this month for accreditation as citizen’s arm in the May 2010 polls.

In next years automated election, where machines perform the counting and tallying of votes and the results readily received by Comelec, a quick count operation will no longer be necessary.

But Namfrel will still conduct its own parallel count using its ER copies, as a post-validation process.

This is necessary to uncover discrepancies, if any, in the results of the local and national elections.

The ER copies of Namfrel have proven to be crucial in the last-minute attempts to rig the results, especially in local races.

Pink dolphin seen and it looks not so real!

The Pink Bottlenose dolphin, which is an albino, is the odd one out within its pod and after being spotted last year has been wowing visitors at a lake in Louisiana, US.

The mesmerising mammal was photographed making a splash by local charter boatman Captain Erik Rue, 42.

Cpt Rue has been studying the dolphin since it first surfaced in Lake Calcasieu, an inland saltwater estuary, north of the Gulf of Mexico.

Source

Commission on Elections Chairman Jose Melo announced yesterday the full automation of next year’s elections.

Speaking to reporters, Melo said the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee on Automated Election System has given the Comelec the go signal to start the process of bidding for the automated electoral machines.

The supplemental budget for the automation of the election are already in its final stage and the biddng for the machines to be used have already started and the deadline for the filing of the certificates of candidacy for the 2010 election has been move to about three months earlier, or to Nov. 30, 2009. Thus the new timeline would give the Comelec ample time to design the ballots for the automated polls in 2010.

Although the filing of the certificate of candidacy is earlier the campaign period for the 2010 election still remains the same. Candidates for national posts could only start their campaign 90 days before the May 10 elections

Patricia Muñoz, a fully credentialed special education teacher in California, will conduct the following SPED seminars:

• Implementing an Effective Inclusion Program on March 8
• How to Cope When Your Child or Student is Special, March 15, with Virgilio Antonio
• Utilizing Effective Strategies to Serve the Needs of Special Children, March 22
• Preparing an Effective IEP, a Vital Tool in the SPED Program, March 29.

All seminars will be held at Protégé SPED Center, Unit 1A Rexxon’s Arcade, 36 Xavierville Ave., Loyola Heights, Quezon City (with tel. nos. 0918-3588855, 436-2620 or 434-6064).

Seminar hours are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Registration starts at 8 a.m.

Protégé conducts weekday classes on SPED teaching strategies and IEP Process and Writing.

Muñoz also offers consultancy on setting up special education schools and programs.

For details, e-mail patmunoz2001@yahoo.com.