By: Samuel P. Medenilla
The Commission on Elections announced yesterday that it has finally completed the printing of the almost 60 million ballots for the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections on Oct. 23.
The poll body noted it may defer the deployment of the ballots in anticipation of the signing of the bill postponing the elections to next year.
Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista confirmed the National Printing Office has already completed the printing of 59,548,410 ballots for the elections in Luzon and Visayas.
No ballots have been printed for Mindanao after the Comelec decided to suspend the elections there due to security concerns.
Bautista said they are still undecided on the deployment of the ballots since it may impose unnecessary pressure on local government units.
Under government regulations, city and municipal treasurers will be required to secure the ballots once it is delivered in their jurisdiction.
This may no longer be necessary if President Duterte finally signs the bill postponing the elections to May 2018.
“This is why we are closely monitoring developments of the bill, so we can properly plan our next action,” Bautista said.
The poll chief said the Comelec en banc will decide today on whether to push through with the ballot delivery or not.
He said the decision needs to be immediate since their Packing and Shipping Committee has asked for sufficient time to complete the delivery of the ballots to their destinations.
