Comelec resumes printing of ballots

(UPDATE) AFTER an eight-day hiatus, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) resumes today, Wednesday, the printing of 73 million ballots that will be used for the national and local elections and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao parliamentary polls in May. Chairman George Erwin Garcia said on Tuesday that the new ballots to be printed would be compliant with the order of the Supreme Court to include the names of the nine aspirants, one senatorial and eight local positions, and the corresponding number on their names based on alphabetical arrangement. Garcia expressed hope that the printing process would proceed smoothly until its completion, and the latest temporary restraining order (TRO) issued by the court on Monday in favor of petitioner Jonas Cortes, a mayoral aspirant in Mandaue City, Cebu, would be the last. "We will proceed with the printing by Wednesday. If there will be new developments, we will see what we can do," added Garcia. But the Supreme Court issued two more TROs on Tuesday. The first prevents the Comelec from declaring Francis Leo Antonio Marcos a nuisance candidate, while the second halts the poll body's decision to annul the certificate of candidacy of Noel Rosal for the position of Albay governor. Both Marcos and Rosal contested the resolutions issued by Comelec, which they argue unfairly affect their political ambitions. Even without Tuesday's TROs, Garcia said, their 77-day timeline — from Jan. 6 to April 14 — has already been reduced by 14 days because of the tedious process involved in complying with the court's orders. "We need to make adjustments onward, before the end of April, so that we would be able to finish the printing of ballots," he said, as he admitted that the two weeks delayed in their timeline could possibly move the completion of printing from April 14 to April 20. But Garcia said that they were not giving up their April 14 timeline because the commission is doing everything necessary to meet the target date, which includes the deputization of the National Printing Office (NPO) and the use of its four printing machines in addition to the two machines provided by technology provider Miru Systems of South Korea. "The NPO machines can print 1.5 million ballots a day. We have high expectations on the performance of the NPO machines. That is why we stick to our April 14 [printing] deadline," he added. Garcia stressed that in deference to the authority of the Supreme Court, the Comelec would do everything possible to comply with its order but also pointed out that there might come a time when the Comelec would no longer be able to comply with those orders. This is the first time in the country's electoral history that the Comelec stopped the printing of ballots to comply with a Court order. Garcia said this week is crucial because the Supreme Court will have its en banc session on Wednesday and pending election cases against the Comelec might be discussed, and a new TRO might be issued. "We do not know who will get a TRO. We declared 117 nuisance candidates for senator, 17 at the House of Representatives, 67 local positions and almost 200 declined or dismissed petitions for party-list groups application. A lot of them went to the Supreme Court," he said. What is important now, Garcia said, is to finish the printing of ballots on time and to distribute election paraphernalia to their intended destinations two weeks before the elections. "We will do the final testing and sealing one week before the elections. We will test all the machines with 10 ballots per precinct. Before we start with the final testing and sealing of all the materials, ballots must be there," Garcia added.