MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) reported on Thursday that 94.68 percent of the 67 million ballots needed in the May 9 polls are already printed.
“As of today, 94.68 percent na po ang napi-print natin out of the 67,442,616. Therefore, nakakapag-print na po tayo ng 63,856,233,” Comelec Commissioner George Garcia said in a press briefing.
(As of today, we have printed 94.68 percent out of the 67,442,616. Therefore, we already printed 63,856,233.)
However, he noted that almost 179,000 ballots were tagged as defective and are subject to reprinting.
READ: Defective ballots near 179,000 mark – Comelec
“Ang atin po ngayon na (Our current) defective ballots, which would be subject of reprinting, ay (are) 178,990,” he said, noting that the defective ballots only account for 0.28 percent of the total printed ballots.
“So, still very manageable, napakaliit. Ang importante nakikita ‘yung mga ganitong problema, diperensiya,” he added.
(So, still very manageable, just a small figure. What’s important is we see these kinds of problems and discrepancies.)
Printing of ballots in the National Printing Office is being live streamed by the Comelec to promote transparency and secure public trust.
READ: Comelec live streams ballot printing
Based on the Comelec’s latest data, there are 65.8 million eligible voters in the upcoming elections.
READ: Comelec tallies 65.7 million voters, plus 1.6 million overseas