Comelec Prints 4.6 Million Ballots for Midterm Elections

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has successfully printed 4.6 million ballots for the upcoming midterm elections scheduled for May 12. The printing resumed at the National Printing Office in Quezon City on January 27, 2025, following a pause due to legal challenges. As of January 31, the total number of ballots printed reached this figure, according to Comelec Chair George Erwin Garcia via a Viber message. The ballots were produced using the equipment of Miru Systems and the National Printing Office’s own machines. Specifically, Miru Systems’ printers have produced 2,494,545 official and Final Testing Sealing (FTS) ballots, while the National Printing Office’s Canon printers have printed 2,295,459 official and FTS ballots. Garcia reported that 1.3 million ballots were printed the day before the last report, and 1.673 million were printed the day before that. He expressed hope that the machines would soon reach their maximum capacity to meet the self-imposed deadline of April 14 for printing approximately 72 million official ballots. The printing had been halted earlier due to temporary restraining orders from the Supreme Court related to national and local election disputes. Approximately 6 million ballots printed before these orders were issued have been set aside by the election commission.