The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has once again postponed the reprinting of ballots for the upcoming May 12 elections, following the issuance of two new temporary restraining orders (TROs) by the Supreme Court. The decision to delay the printing from January 22 to January 25 was announced by Comelec Chairperson George Garcia during a radio interview. The move comes in response to TROs that favor a national candidate, necessitating the inclusion of additional names on the ballots.
Garcia explained that the Comelec staff would need to work overtime from Wednesday to Friday to update the database and incorporate the names of the two candidates affected by the TROs. This process involves not only changing the database but also re-serializing each ballot and modifying 1,697 ballot faces across the country. The goal is to have everything ready by Saturday to commence the printing of the ballots.
The Supreme Court issued the TROs in favor of senatorial aspirant Francis Leo Marcos, while dismissing Albay governor Noel Rosal. Garcia stated that the Comelec would continue to adjust its operations in response to any further TROs issued by the Supreme Court concerning disqualified candidates.
The printing of the 73 million ballots for the midterm national and local elections began on January 6 but was halted due to earlier TROs against the disqualification of several local candidates. This interruption led to the wastage of six million already printed ballots.