The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Monday said it will still target to finish the printing of ballots for the National and Local Elections 2025 by April 14 despite the recent delays.
This is so the poll body can start distributing the ballots to all polling precincts nationwide in time for the May 12 midterm elections, Comelec Chairman George Garcia said.
“Basta ‘yung April 14 natin na original timeline natin, dapat April 14 pa rin. Kung sakali man magkakaro’n tayo ng adjustment, later na lang namin ‘yung iisipin. But in the meantime, dapat and at all costs, makapagtapos tayo ng April 14,” he said in an interview on Unang Balita.
(Our original timeline is April 14, and we should still be finished by April 14. In case we have to make an adjustment, we will think about it later. But in the meantime, we must and at all costs, finish printing by April 14.)
“Sapagkat ‘yang mga balotang ‘yan ay hindi naman talaga perpekto. Meron at merong defective ballots na kakailanganin na i-reprint ‘yung mismong presinto kung saan nagkaro’n ng defective ballots. At the same time, ang pinakamahirap talaga ay ang pagshi-ship out ng mga election paraphernalia sa iba’t ibang parte ng ating bansa lalo na sa liblib na lugar,” he continued.
(This is because the ballots are not perfect. There will be defective ballots that will need to be reprinted. At the same time, the most difficult task is to ship out election paraphernalia to different parts of our country, especially in remote areas.)
The Comelec on Monday is set to resume the printing of the official ballots for the May 2025 National and Local Elections, increasing its target production to 1.5 million daily to meet its April 14 deadline.
Garcia said that they will utilize six machines in order to print 73 million ballots for the midterm polls, following a three-week delay due to some hitches.
Before printing was postponed due to changes necessitated by the temporary restraining orders issued by the Supreme Court and other developments, the poll body was printing nearly one million ballots daily.
“‘Yang mga balotang ‘yan, lahat lahat na 73 million, ay dadaan hindi lamang sa mga machine, kundi sa mga mata ng ating mga tauhan upang alamin kung tama ang sukat, tama ang kulay, tama ba ang pagkakasunod-sunod ng mga pangalan ng mga kandidato na nandiyan, at ‘yung mga bilog bago ang pangalan ng mga kandidato,” Garcia said.
(The 73 million ballots will not only go through the machines, but through the eyes of our personnel to find out if their size is right, the color is right, the names of the candidates are in the right order, and if the circles before the names of the candidates are correct.)
The re-commencement of the printing of ballots at the National Printing Office is scheduled at 10 a.m. on Monday.
Six million printed ballots, amounting to around P132 million, were earlier put to waste following the issuance of a temporary restraining order by SC against the disqualification of several local bets in the upcoming elections.
The ballot printing was supposed to resume last week but it was pushed back further following the withdrawal of senatorial aspirant Francis Leo Marcos.
The Comelec on Sunday uploaded the new ballot faces for the 2025 elections on its website, containing 66 senatorial bets and 156 party-list groups, as well as the local aspirants vying for provincial, municipality, and congressional district seats. —KG, GMA Integrated News
