THE printing of 73 million ballots for next year’s midterm polls would begin in the second week of December with P1.6-billion allotted for the initiative.
The National Printing Office (NPO) and the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Thursday signed a memorandum of agreement with official service provider Miru Systems concerning the job order.
Miru Vice President for Overseas Sales Ken Cho said his company would be lending to NPO brand new machines, which use the latest technology for the project.
Printed ballots would be subjected to various testing and verification procedures using machines Miru will provide.
NPO chief Renato Acosta said the signing of the tripartite agreement was indicative of a collective determination to provide safe, secure and readily available ballots for the elections.
Comelec Chairman George Garcia said it was crucial to meet the deadlines for submission of candidacies and election peripherals.
“We have to come together because there is little time left,” he added.
Garcia said that at least 1 million ballots were needed to be printed each day so as not to waste the lead time of two and a half months.
Comelec said each ballot bears a precinct-specific QR code, watermark, and other security features.
It added that for transparency, the printing of ballots would be made public via livestream broadcast daily, the first time in Comelec’s history.
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