MANILA — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will hold simulation activities on June 27 to test the automated election system (AES) that will be used for the Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections (BPE).

Comelec Chairperson George Garcia said the simulation will take place on Saturday in two areas in the Bangsamoro region.

“We will have our simulation activity. We will test our voting machines and transmission devices in Tawi-Tawi and Maguindanao del Norte,” he said during the Stakeholders Walkthrough of the Data Center for the BPE in Makati City on Monday.

Actual voters will participate in the exercise, while Electoral Board members will oversee the operation of the voting machines during the simulation.

“We will also test the transmission of election results from the precincts to the Comelec servers,” Garcia added.

Meanwhile, Comelec said the printing of official ballots for the BPE will begin next month at the National Printing Office in Quezon City.

“We will be printing the official ballots come the first week of July or right after the simulation activity,” he said in a separate interview.

Garcia also reported that preparations for the September 14 polls are ongoing, including the printing of other election materials such as the election day computerized voters’ list, voters’ information sheets, training ballots, and posted computerized voters’ list.