THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) assured the public that it is in "full control" amid rising concerns of malfunctioning vote counting machines (VCMs), among other problems, that cropped during the formal start of voting on Monday.

"We assure you that we are fully in control," Commissioner George Garcia said in a press briefing, saying that the glitches in VCMs and secured digital (SD) cares were under the level 1 category or "minor" glitches.

"We assure the public that these are problems already anticipated by the Comelec Steering Committee," Garica said, adding that so far all minor problems have been addressed and fixed by the operation centers and repair hubs.

As of 10 a.m. on Monday, Garcia said that there were a total of 1,867 VCMs that showed some defects, like paper jams and were not printing properly.

Of the 1,867 defective machines, 940 were caused by paper jam, 606 were rejecting the ballots, 158 had defective scanners, 87 were not printing and 76 were not printing properly.

"Those were the common issues but already resolved," Garcia added but without elaborating the areas where the problems were encountered.

Amid concerns on defective VCMs, Garcia reiterated that as a protocol, voting should be continued even if there is no machine or while it is being fixed or awaiting replacement.

"Everybody can vote even without the machine. It is part of the protocol," Garcia pointed out, saying that the reason behind was to ensure that voting would not be disrupted.

He explained that the filled up ballots would be gathered at the EB's table and would be mass fed once the defective VCM has been fixed or replaced in the presence of poll watchers, citizens election arm and other accredited groups.

Under normal circumstances, Garcia further said, the voters were supposed to drop their ballots on the ballot box but if the VCM is defective, the voters would be made to sign a waiver that would allow the members of the EB to mass feed the ballots to the replacement VCM but without the voter verification paper audit

trail (VVPAT) which serves as the voter's receipt.

Commissioner Marlon Casqueo, chairman, Steering Committee, also reported that almost all of the more than 106,017 VCMs underwent final testing and sealing (FTS) before May 9 except for some in Cotabato City but were also immediately resolved in the morning of the elections.

Casquejo said that on the eve of the polls, there were 817 defective machines under level 2 or needing replacement but all have been fixed and repaired and formed part of the 1,900 contingent VCMS that were distributed in various regions of the country.