Ballot printing expected to finish this week

Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia said in an interview Thursday only 3 million more ballots need to be printed, which is expected to be completed by "Friday night or Saturday morning."

Garcia said that after completing the printing process, the next step is to verify the printed ballots.

"We have verified about half of the number of ballots printed. The verification will still run until April," Garcia said.

The National Printing Office (NPO) and Comelec's service provider, Miru Systems, are printing the official ballots.

On Jan. 27, the poll body restarted the ballot printing at the NPO after suspending the process due to the temporary restraining orders issued by the Supreme Court against Comelec and its decision to disqualify or declare several aspirants as nuisance candidates.

The Comelec also said it has begun to print the 68.431 million voters information sheets (VIS) that will serve as a guide for those casting ballots on May 12.

The VIS that will be distributed from April 1 to April 30 contains the voter's name and address, voting instructions and a list of candidates for national, local and party-list positions.

Garcai said 55 percent or 37.404 million copies of the VIS have been printed. The printing is expected to be completed by March 24.

Four to five regions have received their VIS shipments.

Garcia said the VIS printing was done at the NPO to avoid past issues such as incorrect candidate names and other technical errors.

Based on Comelec data, 32 percent of the printed VIS have undergone verification, while 21 percent have been fully processed.

The verification process is expected to be completed by the end of March so that distribution can begin in the first week of April.

To ensure that the VIS distribution is free from political interference, Comelec has assigned a special task force to oversee the process. Barangay officials will not be involved in the distribution to prevent accusations of partisan use of the VIS. Instead, Comelec personnel will directly distribute the sheets to voters.

On Friday, Garcia also clarified that although the parliamentary election in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) has been postponed, national and local elections in the region will still take place on May 12.

This means that voters in BARMM will still elect senators, party-list representatives and local officials.