Workers conduct the the Final Testing and Sealing of ballots and other paraphernalia at the National Printing Office, North Diliman, Quezon City on January 15, 2025. The Commission on Elections has suspended the printing of ballots for the May elections to give way to the inclusion of names of five candidates rejected earlier by the Comelec but ordered reinstated by the Supreme Court. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News 

MANILA — The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) is eyeing to finish the printing of all the ballots for the 2025 midterm polls by March 19.

Comelec chairman George Erwin Garcia said the agency is ahead of schedule for the ballot printing because it is using six machines to print the ballots.

“Nung dati po bago tayo dito, wala pa tayong isang milyon — ang na-be-verify halos 600, 000 lang… Kinakabahan kami doon. Bakit? Nakaka-27% na tayo di ba? Pag kinompute niyo yung pag-print ng balota, March tapos kami. The most March 19 tapos kami sa printing,” he shared.

(We were nervous when we hadn't hit 1 million, we had only verified around 600,000. Why? We are at 27%, right? By our computation, we'll be done by March. March 19 at the latest) 

Garcia however clarified that it pegged the self-imposed deadline for the printing of ballots to April 14 because this includes time to replace and verify rejected or defective ballots.

Comelec: Ballot printing to restart on Jan.24

“Kasi nga nabubulunan kami sa verification, mabilis ang printing - mabagal ang verification. So dahil sa pag-increase natin ng mga verifier ngayon at dagdag na makina…ang hope natin ay mahabol man lang yung printing ng balota,” he added.

(The bottleneck is in verification. So, because we have increased the number of verifiers and have more machines, we hope to finish printing in time) 

As of Thursday, February 13, more than 27 million ballots have already been printed.

This is equivalent to 27% of more than 71 million ballot requirements, according to Garcia. He said that out of the 27 million printed ballots, only 3 to 4 million have been verified.

Comelec to speed up reprinting of 2025 ballots; earlier 2028 calendar pushed

Also on Thursday, Comelec officials personally inspected the manual verification of ballots at the Amoranto Sports Complex in Quezon City.

The commission hired an additional 200 temporary workers to do the manual verification.

BALLOT PRINTING CONTINUES DESPITE SOME CANDIDATES' WITHDRAWALS OF CANDIDACY

The Comelec will continue printing ballots for the midterm polls despite announcements from candidates who are dropping out of the Senate race.

Dr. Willie Ong on Thursday announced he his withdrawing his candidacy to focus on his health. Ong's wife filed his candidacy papers last October while he was in Singapore for sarcoma, a rare cancer that affects bones and tissues.

As of Thursday morning, Garcia said the commission has yet to receive Ong's statement of withdrawal. He said the poll body has an existing resolution on ailing candidates who wish to withdraw from the race.

Willie Ong withdraws from Senate race

“[K]ung ang isang tao, basta may certification ang kanyang doktor, na hindi kaya makapunta or mag-file personally, tatanggapin namin ang kanyang Statement of Withdrawal,” he said.

(If a person cannot file their Statement of Withdrawal personally, we will accept it as long as there is a certification from a doctor on why they cannot do it themselves)

Last Monday, AGRI Party-list Rep. Wilbert Lee also withdrew his senatorial bid, citing lack of resources.

“Kung sakali man, kung sino man magwiwithdraw ngayon, hindi na namin babaguhin ang balota naimprenta," Garcia said, adding the Comelec cannot just throw away the millions of ballots already printed.

(If ever anyone withdraws at this point, we will no longer revise the ballots) 

Votes for candidates who have withdrawn will be considered stray and will not be counted.