Ballot printing for barangay, SK polls to be suspended

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will wait until Aug. 15 for Congress to decide if the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections set on Oct. 23 will push through. 

“We are studying until when we can delay the printing of ballots. However, Comelec should decide before Aug. 15,” Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista said in an interview over dzBB yesterday. 

Bautista said the printing of ballots is supposed to start on July 20.

“We are withholding the printing of the official ballots…because we are worried that if Congress decides to postpone and we start printing, government resources will be wasted,” Bautista said.

He said the poll body had completed the list of voters and their assigned precincts, but could not go full blast in the bidding for election materials.

Bautista said Comelec would abide by the decision of Congress, but stressed that it should not be close to the midterm elections in 2019.

There are pending bills in Congress to postpone the elections amid concerns that drug lords will fund candidates.