COMELEC SUSPENDS PRINTING OF BALLOTS

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Tuesday suspended the printing of the official ballots amid a Supreme Court (SC) ruling stopping the poll body from disqualifying former Caloocan City representative Edgar Erice and five other candidates from the 2025 national and local elections (NLE).

Aside from stopping the printing of official ballots at the National Printing Office (NPO), the Comelec en banc also amended their candidates’ database, election management system (EMS), as well as the automated counting machine (ACM) and the consolidation and canvassing system (CCS), all of which have already been the subject of a trusted build that ensures the integrity, security and accuracy of the automated election system.

The poll body likewise generated 1,667 ballot face templates reflecting the SC decision; created an inventory of all printed ballots; and conducted a study on whether the changes in the EMS warrant another trusted build.

The poll body said it would need to reschedule the trusted build of the online voting and counting system, originally scheduled for Jan. 15, and the mock elections set for Jan. 18.

It  would also reprint all the affected ballots after changes in the EMS take effect.

“While these actions are indeed time-consuming and very costly, Comelec fully respects the decision of the Supreme Court, and we recognize these orders as part of the Comelec legal processes,” the Commission said.

Despite the delays in the preparations because of the Court’s order, the Comelec assured the public that “there is no cause for alarm, concern, or panic,” saying that it is fully in control of the situation and will effect the necessary contingency measures.

The poll body said it would inform the two chambers of Congress about the measures it would take.

The SC had issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) prohibiting the Comelec from disqualifying Erice and other aspirants previously declared as nuisance candidates.

The High Court instructed the poll body to comment on Erice’s petition within a non-extendible period of 10 days from receipt of notice.

“The TROs prohibit Comelec from disqualifying them. So this means their names have to be included in the ballot. So it’s up to Comelec how they would implement this. But they will just have to follow the order of the SC,”  SC spokesperson attorney Camille Ting said.

Meanwhile, the Comelec said it would transport all the ballots already printed to its Sta. Rosa warehouse and destroy them to prevent any unauthorized use.