MANILA, Philippines – The National Printing Office (NPO) is utilizing an additional ballot-printing machine for the upcoming midterm elections, Commission on Elections (Comelec) spokesperson James Jimenez announced Monday.
Jimenez said that with the extra machine, the printing of ballots for the May 13 elections may be completed ahead of schedule.
“If nothing goes wrong from here and out, we will be able to finish 10 days early. Again, it helps that we are at peak capacity right now and that the NPO will be introducing an additional printer into the process,” Jimenez said in a press briefing.
Jimenez said that more than 19 million ballots have already been printed for the May elections, or 30 percent of the 63 million ballots needed.
The Comelec’s target date for the printing of the 63 million ballots is April 25, 2019.
Printing of ballots for Eastern Visayas is now underway at the NPO, Jimenez added. / gsg