MANILA – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) announced Thursday (20 Feb 2025) that it has printed more than half of the 72,097,420 ballots needed for the May 12 midterm elections.
Comelec Chairperson George Garcia confirmed during a press briefing that 53% of the total ballots have already been printed, with the National Printing Office (NPO) and Miru Systems handling production at the NPO’s Quezon City facility.
The Comelec also revealed a delay in the verification process, pushing the original deadline from April 14 to April 20. Garcia explained the extension is necessary due to the large number of ballots requiring both manual and machine verification and a shortage of personnel, despite hiring 1,000 workers for the task.
Verification of ballots for the National Capital Region is expected to take place between April 15 and 20, while ballots for other regions may be deployed as early as the first week of April.
Garcia added that approximately 12 to 13 million ballots have already been verified.
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