Comelec Prints Over 45 Million Ballots for Upcoming Midterm Elections

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Manila announced that it has successfully printed over 45 million ballots for the upcoming midterm elections scheduled for May 12. This milestone was reached nearly a month after the ballot reprinting began at the National Printing Office (NPO) in Quezon City. As of the latest update, a total of 45,649,329 ballots have been produced, representing 63.32% of the 72,097,420 ballots needed for the election. Miru Systems, the service provider for Comelec, has printed 22,570,822 ballots, while the NPO has contributed 23,078,507 ballots. The remaining 26,448,091 ballots are still to be printed, with Miru Systems tasked to produce 14,279,056 and NPO to print 12,169,035. The division of labor between Miru Systems and NPO aims to expedite the printing process. Comelec anticipates completing the ballot printing by March 9 or 10. The printing operations resumed on January 27. In a separate development, a gubernatorial candidate from Lipa, Batangas, Jay Manalo Ilagan, filed a disqualification case against the CWS Party-list and its nominee, Edwin Gardiola, accusing them of vote-buying. The allegations stem from an event at the “BarakoFest 2025” in Lipa City, where the party allegedly conducted a challenge with Toyota Vios vehicles as prizes. Ilagan claims this activity, occurring within the 90-day campaign period before the 2025 elections, violates the Omnibus Election Code by attempting to influence voters through the distribution of valuable items.