Comelec starts printing 73 million ballots for May polls

National

WITH few months away before the May 2025 elections, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has started printing ballots.

Comelec needs to print 73 million ballots for the midterm elections and first parliamentary polls in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARRM).

Comelec Chairman George Garcia said they are targeting printing 800 000 to one million ballots a day to complete the printing in the estimated 77 days until April 14.

After completing the Election Management System (EMS), the poll agency started printing the ballots, which contained the final list of candidates vying for different positions in the upcoming midterm polls.

Garcia said they already dropped over 300 nuisance candidates including those who were disqualified.

“It is not allowed to just change the EMS. We can subtract (candidate names), but we cannot just add more to it,” Garcia said in a Philippine Star report.

In the same report, Garcia said they will continue to print ballots despite pending cases filed by some disqualified candidates before the Supreme Court (SC), adding they have already informed the SC about it.

“We have to proceed with the ballot printing because time is of the essence. After the completion of the printing by April 14, we have less than a month to distribute the election paraphernalia,” Garcia said.

Garcia, however, said, the Comelec will act depending and in accordance to the highest court order.

The poll department have also prioritized the printing of around 11,000 overseas voters and for BARMM parliamentary elections

Meanwhile, the poll body eyes expanding the coverage of local absentee voting (LAV) which will include more government employees, especially in the health sector.

Garcia noted, medical personnel need to vote early because they are also deployed during the election.

The poll chief also said other government agencies may send a letter requesting the Comelec to include their employees to avail LAV, who have duties on election day.(LAO)