The Commission on Elections (Comelec) cautioned political candidates from falling for syndicates that promise a sure win in the coming May 2025 poll, saying there is no such thing as a “pre-shaded ballot” that is impossible to achieve.
Poll chairman George Erwin Garcia made the remarks during the inspection of the ballot verification at the Amoranto Stadium in Quezon City on Thursday, after reports that some people claimed that “secret shading” could be embedded on the ballots.
“To those who still believe in lies that there are invisible pre-shaded ballots, how can they say that the shade is invisible when all the ballots were fed into the machine to test if there were other markings?” Garcia said.
Garcia said the automated counting machines (ACMs) to be used in the coming polls and the printing of ballots are safeguarded by security and election watchdogs 24/7.
He said printed ballots are verified and displayed “Passed” on the screen before they are sealed in plastic.
During the ballot verification process, Garcia said the verifiers manually reject the ballots if they have torn parts and ink smudges.
“If the ballot is already rejected by the verifier, it no longer has to be verified by the ACMs, and vice versa,” Garcia said.