With just 8 million out of the 72 million ballots remaining to be printed, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has started the countdown for the May 2025 midterm elections, as it expressed confidence that the printing process will be fully completed by the end of this week, specifically between March 14 and 16.
Poll chairman George Garcia said that all printed ballots still need to undergo a verification process to ensure they meet quality requirements and specifications.
Garcia said that nearly 30 million ballots have been verified to date, with the verification process expected to conclude by April.
He said that all four printing machines at the National Printing Office, along with the two advanced machines supplied by Mirus Systems from South Korea, played a crucial role in addressing the three-week printing delay.
“This effort was essential to accommodate the inclusion of candidates’ names who had previously been disqualified but successfully appealed their cases to the Supreme Court,” Garcia said.