The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will resume the printing of 73 million ballots on Saturday after a weeklong delay due to the Supreme Court’s (SC) issuance of temporary restraining orders (TROs) to include nine political aspirants previously declared as nuisance candidates in the ballots for the 2025 midterm elections.
Comelec George Garcia also deputized the National Printing Office to fast-track the reprinting of ballots by at least 1.5 million ballots daily.
At least six million printed ballots costing more than P150 million were discarded in compliance with the TROs issued by the SC on the various cases of nine election aspirants running for national and local positions.
The poll chief is also hoping the latest TRO issued by the High Court last Monday in favor of petitioner Jonas C. Cortes, a mayoral aspirant in Mandaue City, Cebu, would be the last.
“We are hoping that the printing process will proceed as soon as possible. If there will be new developments, we will see what we can do,” Garcia said.
“We need to make adjustments onward, before the end of April, so that we would be able to finish the printing of ballots,” he added.
Garcia said the discarded ballots would be shredded to ensure they cannot be used in the upcoming polls. The ballots were printed at P22 each, which means the poll body stands to lose around P132-million in light of this development.
Garcia said the printed ballots were intended for the national elections. He said official ballot printing for the local elections has not started yet, which means the Comelec may still revise the list of candidates involving other aspiring politicians covered by the SC ruling.
“Because the ballot face will be modified, the name of the candidate included in the Supreme Court’s restraining order must also be included,” he added.
The printed ballots to be destroyed include those for local absentee voting, overseas voting, test ballots and the Bangsamoro elections.
“Also, the ballots for the local polls in the CARAGA region have also been printed, but their printing has been halted,” Garcia said.
The SC issued a TRO prohibiting the Comelec from disqualifying five aspirants, including Mustapha who is aiming for a national position and four others who are aiming for local positions. The list included former Caloocan City Rep. Edgar Erice and ex-basketball player Florendo Ritualo, Jr.