Comelec on track to finish printing ballots by mid-March
MANILA, Philippines – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is on track to finish printing the 68.5 million ballots needed for the upcoming midterm elections in May, the commission reported on Friday, February 28.
The Comelec printing committee said that as of Friday, its ballot printing completion was at 71.32%, translating to around 48.92 million printed ballots, and that printing could be completed by March 14, a day before the target completion date of March 15.
The report comes after a previous controversy on ballot printing, when the Comelec in January moved to reprint 6 million ballots in the wake of a Supreme Court ruling that prevented the poll body from removing the name of one of the senatorial candidates.
“March 14, tapos po ang imprenta ng mga balota natin (The printing of our ballots will be completed on March 14),” Comelec Chairperson George Garcia said during the commission’s regular briefing on elections preparations on Friday.
Yasser Mangadang, speaking on behalf of the Comelec’s printing committee, said that ballots to be used for local absentee and overseas voting were 100% complete.
“Our initial daily target was 1.5 million [ballots printed]. Good to say that to optimize printing processes and enhance efficiency, our production has increased to 1.7 million…. We will be able to finish this earlier [than our target],” said Mangadang.
With the parliamentary elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao postponed to October, the Comelec has yet to begin its ballots for these special elections. However, it has been able to begin printing ballots for regular posts, such as for governors and other local leaders.
Meanwhile, some 20.7 million of the printed ballots have been verified.
The Quezon City government earlier allowed the poll body to use the Amoranto Sports Complex for free to augment operations for ballot verification. – Rappler.com