The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) announced that there are no significant issues yet with printing ballots for local candidates in this year's midterm elections.
Despite the Supreme Court's issuance of a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) against the disqualification of five candidates, the Commission assured that the printing of ballots for local candidates would not be affected.
COMELEC Chairman Atty. George Erwin Garcia clarified that the printing of ballots for local elections has not yet commenced. He also noted that these ballots are fewer in number compared to those for national candidates.
However, the COMELEC revealed that more than six million ballots will need to be discarded due to the TRO, which involves a senatorial candidate.
In addition, Garcia highlighted that candidates might face challenges as their assigned numbers on the ballots will need to be adjusted.
“Magkakaroon din po nang pagbabago ng numero nung mga kandidato, atleast ‘pag pinasok mo ‘yung letter M, M po kasi ‘yung pinapapasok na pangalan," Garcia said in an exclusive interview with DZRH's Magandang Umaga Pilipinas on Wednesday.
“Yun pong lahat nang nasa ilalim non ay kinakailangang mag-adjust ng numero at syempre inaalala natin ‘yung mga nakapag-pagawa na ng mga tarpaulin na naglagay na ng mga numero. So medyo sa palagay ko ay nakapag-gastos na rin ‘yung iba po dyan,” he added.
Garcia further stated that the destruction of more than six million ballots would be conducted publicly, with the media, political parties, and the general public present to ensure transparency and to prevent any misuse of the discarded ballots.
Meanwhile, former Caloocan Representative Edgar Erice expressed gratitude to the Supreme Court for issuing the TRO, which halted his disqualification.
Erice, however, questioned COMELEC's statements, suggesting that the Supreme Court's decision had caused significant challenges for the commission, particularly in relation to its multi-billion-peso contracts with Miru Systems.
“Parang napakalaking kagambalaan. P18-B ‘yung kontrata, ‘yung pangalan lang isisingit mo…parang napakabigat na problema na,”
Erice remarked.
He added that the millions of wasted ballots should serve as a lesson for the COMELEC to handle candidate disqualifications more effectively.
According to Erice, the COMELEC must thoroughly evaluate cases and not rely solely on technicalities when disqualifying candidates.
Garcia responded by explaining that inserting a candidate’s name into the ballot and the Election Management System (EMS) is a complex process.
He emphasized that the EMS is embedded with security features to prevent unauthorized modifications, and the entire system needs to be reconfigured before ballot printing can proceed.
As a result, Garcia confirmed that the COMELEC had temporarily paused ballot printing to allow for the necessary adjustments to the EMS.
He assured the public that the Commission would announce when printing resumes and that the process would be completed by their target date of April 14.
