Comelec says printing of ballots completed

MANILA, Philippines — With less than three weeks before the May 13 midterm elections, the printing of 61,843,756 official ballots has been completed, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said yesterday.

But Comelec-Project Management Office deputy project director Teopisto Elnas Jr. said some six million ballots are still undergoing “verification” at the National Printing Office in Quezon City before they are shipped to their intended destinations.

During verification, Comelec personnel check if the items printed on the ballots, like the number and name of the voting center, are correct.  

Elnas noted that four days ago, they started sending the ballots to various regional and provincial hubs across the country where they will be kept until delivery to City or Municipal Treasurer’s Office. 

“(Shipment) will end this coming May 4 when the ballots are expected to be in place at the treasurers’ offices. Then (ballots) will be dispatched to different polling precincts in the morning of election day,” he said in a press conference.

He added they will prioritize deployment of ballots to farthest areas like Batanes and Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao provinces Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.

Elnas said ballots can be dispatched to polling precincts ahead of election day depending on certain conditions like “transportation, distance and security concerns.” – With Helen Flores, Paolo Romero