Be careful in shading ballots to avoid smudges — Comelec chief
FILE PHOTO: Commission on Elections Chairperson George Garcia. INQUIRER / NINO JESUS ORBETA
MANILA, Philippines — Voters must be careful in shading their ballots for the 2025 elections to avoid ink smudges, Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Erwin Garcia reminded on Thursday.
“Inemphasize po natin sa lahat ng provincial election supervisors at sa lahat ng magtuturo na sana mapayuhan na yung ating mga teachers, electoral board members, botante na ‘wag masyado kaagad diinan, kakalat din agad yung mismong nashade,” Garcia said in an ambush interview in Manila Hotel.
(We emphasize on all provincial election supervisors to advise the teachers, electoral board members, and voters to shade gently on the ballots, because the ink will smudge on the shaded part.)
Garcia recalled an incident in Sulu and Makati City during the mock elections last Saturday where an ink smudged on the ballots.
The Comelec chief said that the smudged ballot in Makati City was rejected by the machine due to affected timing marks on the side of the paper.
READ: Comelec irons out kinks, voters try shading limits in Sulu mock polls
“Syempre kahit na anong pen, may ilang seconds yan, one to three seconds na kailangan para matuyo pero kapag nadiinan, kakalat at kakalat po talaga. Pero tatanggapin ng makina,” Garcia noted.
(Any pen needs one to three seconds to dry its ink but if it is pressed hard, it will smudge. But the machine will still accept [the ballot].)
He reminded voters to not tear or write on any blackened spots on ballots to avoid compromising the whole ballot. He also shared that the pens to be used in the shading of ballots passed the test of the Department of Science and Technology.
The Comelec chief mentioned that the ballot paper, which has 100 grams per square meter, can easily absorb and dry the ink once the shading is done.
READ: Comelec ‘partially terminates’ contract with election service provider
Meanwhile, the automated counting machines can now read a vote even with only a dot of pen on the ballot circle, as the Comelec accepts a shading threshold of 15 percent. The threshold is the minimum shading on a ballot circle to be considered as a valid vote.
Garcia mentioned that they have printed more than three million ballots since they resumed printing operations on Monday. He said that they can print 1.5 to 1.7 million ballots on a daily basis if there are no interruptions.
The Comelec began printing ballots on January 6, but underwent delays thrice due to the temporary restraining orders issued by the Supreme Court, where it had to include the names of senatorial aspirants that were initially declared as nuisance candidates.
