Comelec begins ballot printing for May 12 polls

Metro Manila, Philippines - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) began on Monday, Jan. 6, the printing of ballots for the midterm elections and the first Bangsamoro parliamentary polls on May 12.

The Comelec said it was a “record early day one” of the printing process after its law department finalized the list of candidates.

“Final and executory, wala ang pangalan sa balota. Kung sakali mang may action ang Korte Suprema [Once the decision is final and executory, the candidate’s name is excluded in the ballot. In case the Supreme Court has an action] later, then the Comelec will find a way to comply with the decision or order of the Supreme Court,” Comelec Chairman George Garcia told a news conference, referring to aspirants that were disqualified or declared nuisance.

Garcia said he has submitted a letter to the high court about the beginning of ballot printing.

The commission targets an average printing of 950,000 ballots per day to complete almost 73 million ballots by April 14. The timeline considers reprints and adjustments.

The documents would be printed at the National Printing Office in Quezon City.

Garcia said among those prioritized are the following:

+ around 10,000 to 11,000 ballots for overseas voting

+ around 1,000 ballots for local absentee voting

+ around one million test ballots

+ around 2.3 million ballots for the Bangsamoro region.

The ballots are thinner and sourced from local manufacturers for faster feeding in the automated counting machines.