Quezon City: The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is set to resume the printing of official ballots by January 22 for the upcoming May 12 midterm polls. Spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco stated in an interview that ballot printing is the final phase of a complex process, and production is anticipated to restart by the middle of next week.

According to Philippines News Agency, the printing activities will continue to be held at the National Printing Office in Quezon City. Laudiangco noted that before the printing can resume, necessary changes need to be applied to the election management system (EMS), automated counting machines, and the consolidation and canvassing system.

The Comelec must also conduct the new trusted build process with their international certification entity, Pro V and V, to generate new ballot face templates and serialization. Laudiangco emphasized that all these processes must be completed before proceeding with ballot printing.

The suspension of ballot printing on Tuesday was a response to five temporary restraining orders issued by the Supreme Court against Comelec's decisions to declare certain political aspirants as nuisance or disqualify them. As a result, approximately six million previously printed ballots need to be destroyed.

Additionally, Comelec began transferring the ballots to a warehouse in Sta. Rosa City, Laguna on Friday for proper disposal.