MANILA, Philippines — There was no glitch on the first day of random testing of ballots to be used in the upcoming elections on Thursday, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) commissioner George Garcia said.
Representatives from all 10 presidential candidates, political parties, the media and other election stakeholders were allowed to observe the ballot testing at the National Printing Office in Quezon City.
However, the guests were not allowed to bring their cellphones inside the premises, and those who were allowed to touch the ballots wore gloves.
“No glitch whatsoever occurred / transpired in today’s testing. Hope our stakeholders have the same observation,” Garcia told reporters.
Garcia said this inspection is one of the Comelec’s way to gain the trust of the electorate.
“A lot of things still need to be done to gain the trust of our people on the institution and the electoral process. We have to walk the talk so to speak,” Garcia said.
“The next big thing to be done is to see to it that these ballots and other election paraphernalia are delivered on time , to the correct office and received by the right people,” he continued.
The Comelec has begun printing a total of 67,442,714 ballots for the upcoming elections in January.