MANILA - The Philippines' controversial new automated voting system passed its test in a mock election Saturday, despite press reports of minor glitches, an elections commission official said.

Elections commission chief Jose Melo described the automated system's performance as "almost perfect" in transmitting voting results from nine election precincts set up for the test.

There were some delays in transmitting the results and some ballots were rejected by voting machines because they were incorrectly shaded, said Michael Dioneda, the commission's director for the Philippine capital.

"Basically, we can say that testing the platform was a success," said Cesar Flores, regional president for Smartmatic Corp., the company that provided the automated voting system.

Radio and television reports said some voters taking part in the test found it difficult to locate their precincts or did not have enough time to vote.

This showed the need to properly educate voters where and how to cast their ballots ahead of the national elections in May, said Dioneda.

The May elections, in which the Philippines will choose a new president, a new legislature and local officials from governor to village councilor, will also mark the country's first use of automated voting.

Previous elections were carried out manually, resulting in numerous lengthy delays that gave politicians opportunities to cheat.

However, critics have questioned whether the automated system is reliable and whether it too might be manipulated.