Comelec to start distribution of ballot for May polls on April 22
MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections will start the nationwide distribution of ballots for the 2025 midterm elections on April 22, Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia announced on Wednesday.
Garcia shared this development as the Comelec began disseminating voter information sheets to every registered Filipino voter across the country.
“Magsisimula po ang distribution ng balota April 22. At ang mga balota, lahat matatanggap ng mga treasurer ng lahat ng syudad at bayan,” Garcia told reporters in an interview.
(We will start the distribution of ballots on April 22. And the ballots will be received by the treasurer of all cities and towns.)
READ: Comelec completes printing of official ballots for 2025 polls
The Comelec completed printing 68,542,564 ballots for the upcoming May elections last March 15. Garcia previously said that the poll body eyed deployment of ballots by the second week of April.
Garcia also encouraged poll watchers to observe the arrival of ballots per province or municipality.
“Pwede pong magpalagay ng mga watcher doon sa lugar kung saan yung mga balota para masigurado niyo na ito ay protektado,” Garcia noted.
(Watchers can observe the arrival of ballots to ensure that they are all protected.)
Meanwhile, the nationwide and international shipment of the automated counting machines (ACMs) will begin on Friday, April 4.
Garcia also said that the Comelec began shipping ballots protected by diplomatic pouches for overseas Filipinos who will cast their votes using the ACMs.
READ: Comelec readies ACMs for Filipino voters in earthquake-hit Myanmar
He said that registered voters in Myanmar will use ACMs to vote.
He said that the Philippine Embassy in Myanmar assured the poll body that the embassy did not sustain any damage from the 7.7 magnitude earthquake.
He added that through machine voting, the ballots will be fed into ACMs in the embassy. There are sixteen posts worldwide that will adopt the machine mode of voting for the 2025 polls.
Meanwhile, Thailand, which also suffered from the deadly earthquake, will opt for the first overseas online voting system.
