BSKE PRINTED BALLOTS. Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairperson George Erwin Garcia (2nd from left) and other officials inspect the printed ballots and forms needed for the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE), during the culmination ceremony for the printing, at the National Printing Office in Diliman, Quezon City on Thursday (Sept. 21, 2023). The Comelec reported that about 92 million official manual ballots have been printed. (PNA photo by Joseph Razon)

MANILA – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Thursday finished the printing of the official manual ballots and other forms needed for the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) on Oct. 30.

“Kanina po ay pormal nang tinapos ng Comelec at National Printing Office ang aming pagpi-print ng ating mga manual ballots, manual election returns, certificate of canvass, statement of votes, at summary statement of votes (The Comelec and the National Printing Office earlier concluded the printing of manual ballots, manual election returns, certificate of canvass, statement of votes, and summary statement of votes),” Comelec spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco said during an interview over state-owned PTV’s Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon.

Laundiangco said about 92 million ballots were printed, 480,000 of which have been delivered to the Comelec.

He said the ballots are being readied for distribution starting October.

In a Viber message, Laudiangco told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) that about 68,197,135 ballots have been earmarked for the barangay elections, and 23,857,839 ballots for the Sangguniang Kabataan polls.

In terms of deployment, the Comelec will prioritize the delivery of the official BSKE ballots to the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) that groups the provinces of Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi.

Laudiangco said Batanes would also be among the provinces to be included in the earliest batch of manual ballots deployment.

On the other hand, the National Capital Region (NCR), Central Luzon, and Calabarzon will be scheduled last, he said.

Automated BSK elections

Aside from manual ballots, the Comelec and NPO also printed about 6,000 test ballots for the pilot automated BSKE in select areas in Dasmariñas City, Cavite and Quezon City.

Laudiangco said the ballots for the automated elections would be printed in the coming days and would be completed within a week.

Earlier, Comelec announced the conduct of automated BSKE polls in Barangay Pasong Tamo in Quezon City’s 6th District, which has about 60,766 voters; along with Barangay Paliparan III and Barangay Zone II in Dasmariñas City, with 51,435 and 1,475 registered voters, respectively.

In total, the poll body will print 86,165 official ballots for the barangay elections and 27,511 ballots for the SK elections for the three villages. (PNA)