Comelec resumes printing of ballots for Eleksyon 2025

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has resumed printing the official ballots for Eleksyon 2025, weeks after it was suspended due to the separate Supreme Court (SC) decisions on the candidacies of some aspirants.

Comelec chairperson George Erwin Garcia said six machines, aof which four were from the National Printing Office (NPO) and two procured by South Korean firm Miru Systems Inc., will be used for the printing process.

The poll body's target is to produce 1.5 million ballots daily to complete the printing of the 73 million ballots by April 14.

Comelec also deployed more than 800 personnel to supervise the printing. 

“Sa ating palagay, kakayanin pa rin ang April 14 na deadline na sinet ng Comelec,” said Garcia.  

(We are confident we can finish it by April 14.)

The poll chairperson also said the Comelec sent a letter to the Supreme Court (SC) anew to inform them of the resumption of the printing of the official ballots.

“Ang Comelec kasama ang NPO ay committed na makapag-deliver ng balota sa May 12. Yan po ang asahan ninyo. Maaaring tayo ay nadelay ng ilang araw o linggo pero yan ay mapupunan naman natin ng sipag at tyaga at contigency measures na matagal na nating sinet,” he added.  

(The Comelec and NPO are committed to delivering the ballots by May 12. We may have encountered delays but we can comply with hard work, perseverance, and our contingency measures in place.)

To recall, the Comelec started the printing of the 73 million ballots for this year’s polls on January 6 but was halted following the issuance of the High Court of a TRO against the disqualification of several local bets in the May 12 midterm polls. 

This resulted in six million printed ballots, with a printing cost of around P132 million, rendered useless.

The printing was initially slated to resume on January 22 but was suspended due to fresh TROs from the SC. The Comelec scheduled it again for January 25 but was pushed back with the withdrawal of senatorial aspirant Francis Leo Marcos.

The poll body deputized the National Printing Office (NPO) to ensure the “proper, satisfactory, and timely” completion of the reprinting of the official ballots. –NB, GMA Integrated News

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