Comelec deputizes NPO for ballot printing for Eleksyon 2025

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has deputized the National Printing Office (NPO) to ensure the “proper, satisfactory, and timely” completion of the reprinting of the official ballots for the 2025 national and local elections.

Under Comelec Resolution No. 11096, the poll body requested the NPO to provide printing services for this year’s polls, prioritizing the printing of the official ballots and the allocation of printing equipment, and personnel for the process.

The NPO was likewise instructed to comply with the specification of the official ballots and timeline of printing as prescribed by the poll body and coordinate with other providers to ensure the proper, satisfactory, and timely completion of the printing process.

The Comelec further directed the NPO to turn-over to and assist the poll body in the disposal of defective and wasted ballots; coordinate with the Commission and law enforcement agencies for the security of its premises; comply with the data privacy policies with regard to confidential and submit reports, as may be required by the Comelec.

“Kahapon ay na-test na namin ang tatlo pang machines ng NPO...Kung sakali, kahit sana maka-1.5 million balota a day kung gamit ang mga machines ng NPO at dalawang bago nating machines. Sana po. Kaya hindi kami umaalis sa deadline namin na April 14,” Comelec chairperson George Erwin Garcia told reporters.

(We tested the NPO machines yesterday. We’re hoping to print at least 1.5 million per day to fulfill our April 14 deadline.)

“Mataas pa rin ang expectations namin sa performance ng mga makina ng NPO,” Garcia said.

(We still have high expectations for the performance of the NPO machines.)

The Comelec serialized the official ballots for Eleksyon 2025 earlier. This comes after the poll body held a trusted build for the automated election system (AES) to establish an “add” feature that would allow the system to include additional names in the official ballots in view of recent Supreme Court (SC) temporary restraining orders (TRO) on the disqualification of some candidates for the 2025 polls.

Garcia earlier announced the reprinting of official ballots will start on Wednesday, January 22, 2025.

However, he said the Comelec would need two to three days to make adjustments to its database, re-serialize the ballots, and produce 1,600 ballots faces should the High Court release fresh TROs anew.

“Kung sakali na meron, mga 2-3 days kaya na namin matapos ang lahat,” he added.

(If there will be new TROs, then we will need two to three days to finish the preparations for the printing.)

Last week, the poll body began transporting the six million wasted ballots to a warehouse in Laguna's Sta. Rosa City for proper disposal last week.

The Comelec opted for paper melting after the National Archives of the Philippines prohibited the use of micro-shredding for recycling.  — BAP, GMA Integrated News