FINALLY, for the upcoming 2022 national and local elections, members of the electoral boards (EBs), previously referred to as boards of election inspectors, will be able to digitally sign the election returns generated by the vote counting machines. Similarly, members of the board of canvassers (BOCs) will be able to digitally sign the certificates of canvass and statements of votes generated by the canvassing and consolidation system machines.

In past elections where the automated election system was used — in 2010, 2013, 2016 and 2019 — the election reports were digitally signed by the machines, not by the members of the EBs and the BOCs, which led legal and information technology experts to raise the issue of validity and authenticity of election reports. The experts have pointed out that the act of signing is performed by humans.