Comelec to print ballots for 2025 elections by December

September 6, 2024 | 4:52pm

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) aims to begin printing ballots for the 2025 midterm elections by the second week of December, Chairperson George Garcia said on Thursday, September 5. 

The early start is due to the poll body’s decision to ban the substitution of candidates beyond the filing period of the certificates of candidacy, which is scheduled from October 1 to 8, Garcia said in an ambush interview.

“We hope to start in the second week of December because there will be no more substitutions of candidates after the filing period from October 1-8. We aim to resolve all nuisance cases before November 30 to ensure that only legitimate candidates run,” Garcia said in a mix of English and Filipino.

The printing will cover ballots for the national and local elections but will not include those for the 2025 Bangsamoro Parliament election, which will have a separate printing process. “For the 73 million ballots, the Bangsamoro is not included in the MIRU contract. They will handle their own printing for about 3 million ballots,” Garcia said.

The printing of the 73 million ballots for the 2025 polls will be done by the National Printing Office and facilitated by the Comelec. Ballots will use paper that is 95 GSM thick, which is thinner than the 160 GSM used in previous elections.

Garcia said starting the printing of ballots earlier will allow for better quality control. 

“If any issues arise with printing machines or paper, having ample time will help us address these problems without affecting the election schedule,” the Comelec chair said.

For the 2025 elections, voters will receive a ballot with hidden features, including a QR code, that are designed to be “precinct-specific” so that it cannot be used in another precinct or fed to a different machine, Garcia said. The ballots will also get a unique watermark known only to the Comelec chairperson and the director of the National Printing Office.

The Comelec chief said the National Printing Office will safeguard the printed ballots while the Comelec is preparing a warehouse in Biñan, Laguna for storage. 

Garcia said he does not see any problem with printing the ballots earlier than usual this year, except for when candidates are declared a nuisance candidate or when there are changes with the accreditation and registration of political parties.

“The commitment of Comelec is that before November ends, until November 30, we will resolve all the nuisance cases, so the nuisance candidates will not be able to run,” he added. 

To ensure full transparency, Garcia said the poll body will livestream the printing of the ballots “from day 1.”

“That is to ensure that everything is accountable, everything is transparent,” he added.

Comelec, the National Printing Office and Miru Systems signed a tripartite agreement on Thursday for the provision of printing services for the official ballots for the 2025 midterm elections.