Comelec sets to finish printing Eleksyon 2025 ballots by March 15

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) expects to complete the printing of the official ballots for Eleksyon 2025 by Saturday, March 15, 2025. 

According to Comelec Chairperson George Erwin Garcia, around 66 million ballots have been printed as of Thursday, March 13. This leaves around 1.4 million ballots yet to be printed. 

“Matatapos bukas ng gabi ang printing ng balota, may ilan lang tayong reprints… Mga Sabado ng umaga matatapos na kasama ang reprints,” said Garcia. 

(We are scheduled to complete the printing tomorrow evening. However, some ballots are subject to reprinting. By Saturday, we’re expecting to finish everything, including the reprints.)

At least 2.3 million ballots are subject to reprinting.

“Ang verification aabutin pa kami ng bandang mga April katulad ng nabanggit natin dati. At least yung printing kung matatapos tayo hanggang Sabado, maaga pa rin base sa ating naging declaration dati,” said Garcia, noting that around 33 million ballots have been verified so far. 

(We’re still expecting to complete the verification by April. At least the printing was completed earlier than our declaration.)

On January 27, the  Comelec resumed printing the official ballots on January 27, weeks after it was suspended following the Supreme Court's (SC) issuance of temporary restraining orders against the disqualification of some aspirants for Eleksyon 2025. 

Garcia previously the Comelec is now printing at least 1.7 million ballots per day as they are eyeing to complete the printing process by March and ballot verification by April.

“Napakalaking tulong ng naging operation natin sa hindi lang sa National Printing Office (NPO) kundi sa Amoranto Stadium. Lahat ng mga makina na ginamit natin sa printing ng balota ng NPO ay aming ico-covert sa pag-imprenta ng voters information sheet (VIS) para mas mapabilis,” he added. 

(The operations in NPO and Amoranto Stadium greatly helped us. Now, we're planning to use the printing machines for printing copies of the VIS.)

Meanwhile, the poll chief said he would personally distribute copies of the VIS to voters at a selected area in Metro Manila on April 1, 2025. 

The Comelec in January deputized the NPO, allowing the use of the four printing machines of the NPO and the two machines procured by South Korean firm Miru Systems Inc., to ensure the “proper, satisfactory, and timely” completion of the reprinting of the official ballots for the May polls. 

Early this month, the Quezon City government announced that the Amoranto Sports Complex will be temporarily closed to the public from March 1 to April 30 for the storage and processing of official ballot documents of the Comelec. —RF, GMA Integrated News

For more Eleksyon 2025 related content and updates, visit GMA News Online's Eleksyon 2025 microsite.