By Chloe Mari A. Hufana, Reporter
THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) has printed more than 27 million ballots — 36% of the required total — for the May 12 midterm elections, and is on track to finish it by mid-March, its chairman said on Thursday.
Speaking at the newly opened ballot verification satellite office in Amoranto Sports Complex in Quezon City, Comelec Chairman George Erwin M. Garcia said they have exceeded their daily printing targets.
However, verification efforts remain a challenge, prompting an increase in personnel and machines to expedite the process.
He said Comelec has about 260 verification machines at the National Printing Office and about 600 verifiers. Half of them serve the day shift and the other half are assigned to the night shift, he told reporters.
Mr. Garcia said they have 200 machines at the Amoranto verification satellite but plan to increase this to 250.
“This way, we would need around 500 emergency job-order workers to ensure we have a night shift as well,” he said. “But for today, we only have a day shift. As for the night shift, we might start tomorrow.”
Rejected ballots are few, he added, with most defects attributed to printing issues such as smudges and alignment errors. Defective ballots are immediately flagged for reprinting to prevent a shortage at election precincts.
To ensure security and efficiency, Comelec has implemented stringent quality control. Each verified ballot is vacuum-sealed and securely packed to prevent damage.
The agency has also placed replacement voting machines at the municipal level and established 110 repair hubs nationwide.
Comelec also said it would not reprint ballots for withdrawn candidates. Votes for them would instead be considered stray.
Ballot verification is expected to be fast-tracked in the coming weeks and would be completed by April 14, Mr. Garcia said.
The campaign period for senatorial and party list candidates started on Feb. 11, while local bets will start their campaign on March 28.
Up for grabs in the May 12 elections are 317 congressional seats and thousands of local posts. The biggest battle will be for 12 spots in the 24-seat Senate, a chamber packed with political heavyweights and wielding outsized influence.
