Comelec says official ballots forge-proof despite posting on website

The Commission on Elections is confident that ballots for the May 2019 National and Local Elections can never be forged even after the ballot face templates were posted on the Comelec's website.

Comelec Spokesperson Dir James Jimenez said there were several security marks on the ballot that could not be be gleaned from the uploads.

“Ang makukuha lang nila, flat image lang. kung ano lang yung nasa litrato,” Jimenez told GMA News.

“Hindi nila alam ang sukat ng papel. Yung bigat ng papel, no? Hindi nila alam yung tunay na kulay nung fiber ng papel. Hindi rin nila madu-duplicate yung ating UV mark, na kung titingnan mo yung litrato ay hindi mo maaaninag kung saan nakalagay,” he added.

A different ballot face is used for every district because candidates for local positions vary.

Ballots in some areas in Mindanao even include Arabic translations.

Comelec hopes that with the publication of the ballot faces that voters will start to familiarize themselves with the ballots that will be used in Eleksyon 2019.

“Lalo na meron tayong first time voters among us. So maganda kung makita nila yan at aware sila nasaan yung iboboto nila doon sa balota,” Jimenez said.

As of February 24, 2019, more than 11 million ballots have already been printed.

Those for overseas absentee voting and the former ARMM have been completed. —NB, GMA News