Quezon City: The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is on the verge of completing the printing of official ballots for the upcoming May 12 midterm elections. Comelec Chairperson George Garcia announced that approximately 61 million ballots have already been printed at the National Printing Office (NPO) in Quezon City, marking the process as 92% complete.

According to Philippines News Agency, Chairperson Garcia also highlighted the need for significant progress in the verification process. Currently, only 36 million ballots have successfully passed verification. "We must be able to improve our verification process. On the average, we must be able to verify around 1.2 million ballots on a single day," Garcia stated. Verification requires each ballot to undergo both manual checking and processing through automated counting machines (ACMs).

With the printing phase nearing its end, Comelec plans to reallocate personnel from printing to the verification of ballots. "We will use our personnel assigned for printing for the verification of the ballots," Garcia explained. Furthermore, to facilitate the verification process, additional space at the NPO will be freed up for more machines and personnel once printing concludes.

A total of 72,097,420 ballots are required for the forthcoming elections, and the commission is focused on ensuring that all ballots meet the necessary verification standards.