Chavit Singson’s name gone in new ballots after his withdrawal — Comelec

Former Ilocos Sur Governor Chavit Singson withdraws his COC for Senate at the Comelec Headquarters in Palacio del Gobernador in Intramuros, Manila on Jan. 16, 2025. (Photo from JOHN ERIC MENDOZA / INQUIRER.net)
MANILA, Philippines — The name of former Ilocos Sur governor and businessman Chavit Singson will no longer be in the reprinted ballots for midterm polls, Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman George Erwin Garcia said on Thursday.
Singson officially filed his certificate of withdrawal for the 2025 senatorial elections at Palacio del Gobernador on Thursday.
Singson last served as the mayor of Narvacan, Ilocos Sur, from 2019 to 2022.
READ: Chavit Singson withdraws from 2025 senatorial race
“When Chavit Singson declared that he will withdraw, of course, that was our initial problem: What shall we do to his name in the ballots?” Comelec chairman George Erwin Garcia told reporters about the poll body’s predicament in an ambush interview.
Article continues after this advertisementInitially, Garcia had said Singson’s name would remain in the ballots and the votes he would get would be declared “stray.”
Article continues after this advertisementBut with the new round of ballot printing scheduled for next week, the poll body can now just easily remove Singson’s name.
The reprinting will be done by the poll body after the Supreme Court (SC) ordered the inclusion of a Comelec-designated nuisance candidate in the ballots.
“Now that we are back to zero and we have a few days to do it, we can remove his name [from] the ballots,” he said.
Comelec is eyeing to begin printing the new ballots on Jan. 20, Monday.
Aside from this activity, six million ballots are set to be destroyed after the SC blocked the move of the Comelec to declare senatorial aspirant Subair Guinthum Mustapha as a nuisance candidate.