Comelec: Almost 30 million ballots already printed for Eleksyon 2025

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Saturday said almost 30 million ballots have so far been printed for the May 2025 national and local elections.

Comelec chairman George Garcia said the poll body has to print more than 72 million ballots through the National Printing Office (NPO).

"Sa 72 million [na balota], sa kasalukuyan tayo ay nakaka-almost 30 million na tayo ng naimprenta. Ito ay nagrerepresenta ng 41% nang dapat na iimprenta sa buong Pilipinas," Garcia said on Dobol B TV.

(Of the 72 million [ballots required to print], we currently were able to print almost 30 million. This represents 41% of the total ballots needed to be printed for the entire Philippines.)

However, the number of verified ballots so far is around 5.5 million to 6 million only, Garcia said.

"Ang verification namin ay umaabot ng 5.5 million to 6 million pa lamang. Ang naimprenta namin ay almost 30 million na. So ganyan po ang hahabulin namin," he said.

(Our verification has reached 5.5 million to 6 million [ballots] only so far. We have printed almost 30 million [ballots]. So we still have that gap to close.)

Garcia said like money, a ballot may have errors incurred during the printing process.

"Bawat iniimprenta na mga balota ay hindi naman lahat 'yan ay perfect. Parang pera din na ginagawa natin, mero't meron din talagang sumasablay. Meron talagang mali ang cut, mali ang kulay o kaya naman ay nagkaroon ng smudge," he said.

(Not every ballot printed is perfect. It is like money being printed, there will always be an error. Some may have been cut wrong, or had the wrong color, or had a smudge.)

This is why each ballot has to undergo a two-level verification process — one is done manually and the other is done via a machine.

"May mahigit na 1,000 na mga tauhan na nasa National Printing Office at nandiyan po sa Quezon City kung saan vine-verify manually 'yung mga balota sa kanilang mga mata. Kapag ito ay hindi nakapasa sa kanila, hindi na po ito dadaan pa sa makina level. Rejected na kaagad ang balota," Garcia explained.

(We have more than 1,000 personnel at the National Printing Office and in Quezon City who manually verify the ballots using their eyes. If a ballot does not pass their verification, it will no longer go through the machine level. It will already be rejected.)

"Kung sakaling pumasa naman ito sa kanilang panlasa via paningin at base sa kanilang paningin ay tama naman 'yung mga kulay, cut, at walang smudge, ito naman ay padadaanin sa makina na nandoon sa harapan nila. At doon naman ang makina ay puwedeng magsabi kung pass or fail 'yung mismong pag-test doon sa balota," he added.

(If the ballot passed through the manual verification and it was found to be correct in terms of color, cut, and has no smudge, it will then be fed into a machine in front of them. The machine will then check and indicate if a ballot has passed or failed the test.)

Garcia said this is the reason why there are rejected ballots.

"Seven to eight percent ang ating rejected or defective ballots. Hindi naman ito ganu'n kataas at mababa naman 'yan," the Comelec chairman said.

(The rejected or defective ballots amount to 7 to 8%. This is not high; it is low.)

However, with every rejected ballot, a new ballot has to be reprinted to take its place. The reprinted ballots will also be subjected to manual and machine verification.

"Hindi kasi pupuwede na ipapadala namin sa bawat presinto kahit kulang 'yan ng dalawa o tatlo ay may kulang. Kinakailangan na ipadadala natin ng eksaktong bilang. Baka paghinalaan pa 'yung mga guro kung saan nadala 'yung kulang na mga balota," Garcia said.

(We cannot send ballots to a precinct with two or three pieces lacking. We have to ensure that the right number of ballots is sent to each precinct. The teachers might even be suspected as the culprits behind such missing ballots.)

Garcia gave the assurance that the ballots will all be ready by April 14. Printing is targeted to be finished by March 19.

"April 14 dapat tapos na ang verification ng mga balota," he said.

(The verification of ballots must be finished by April 14.)

Election Day is on Monday, May 12.

Garcia said that three weeks before the election, all election paraphernalia will already be with provincial treasurers who will have custody of them.

He added that they are prioritizing printing the ballots for areas that are far away, since they have to allot time to ship the ballots or have them flown via plane.

Voter reminders

Meanwhile, Garcia also advised voters to make sure the timing marks on the ballots are not compromised.

"Basta 'yung gilid ng balota, may makikita kayong parang... ang tawag natin diyan, timing mark. Parang maliliit na square na kulay black. Huwag niyong pupunitin o sulatan dahil makokompromiso ang buong balota. Hindi mababasa ang buong balota," he said.

(On the side of the ballot, you will see small black squares. We call this timing mark. Do not tear this off or write on it because the entire ballot will be compromised. The machine won't be able to read the entire ballot.)

Garcia also said voters may undervote or put in less than the maximum number of candidates for the post. But one should not overvote — for instance, voting for 13 senators instead of 12 — as this will cause problems.

The Comelec chief also said they can no longer remove the names of the candidates who withdrew from running for elective posts.

Votes for the candidates who have withdrawn will be considered stray votes; the votes will not be counted, Garcia said. —KG, GMA Integrated News

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