Comelec stops printing of ballots for Oct. 23 polls

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has suspended the printing of official ballots for the Oct. 23 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections but said this has nothing to do with the impending postponement of the polls.

Comelec printing committee head Genevieve Guevarra said yesterday they had to suspend the printing due to confusion in the number of ballots assigned for barangay and SK in certain polling precincts.

“We stopped printing last week because we are fixing the number of ballots per precincts. EBAD is working on it now,“ she told reporters, referring to the Election Barangay Affairs Division.

The Comelec started printing official ballots at the National Printing Office in Quezon City last Aug. 9 despite the impending postponement of the twin polls to 2018.

A total of 77,261,086 ballots will be printed, including 56,468,566 ballots for the barangay elections and 20,792,520 ballots for the SK.

Voters aged 18 to 30 will get to vote both for the barangay and the SK.

Guevarra claimed the suspension has nothing to do with the approval on second reading of a bill that seeks to re-schedule the polls to 2018.

“No, that is not the reason. Anyway, we still have to wait for the Senate (version). We are just really doing the verification of ballots,” she noted.

The poll body will study how the suspension will affect its timeline to complete the printing.

On Aug. 14, the House of Representatives committee on suffrage and electoral reforms also allowed incumbent barangay leaders to stay in office in a holdover position.

Guevarra added they have so far printed 15,021 ballots intended for Batanes — 11,101 for barangay and 3,920 for SK polls.