Ink bleed on ballots won’t cause party-list overvote, Comelec explains

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The Commission on Elections explains that ink bleeds on ballots won’t cause overvotes on the opposite page, which contains party-list choices. Photo from Comelec Eastern Visayas.

MANILA, Philippines — The bleeding of ink on the ballot faces won’t lead to overvotes in party-list groups, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said on Monday.

The front of the ballot features senatorial and local candidates, while the 165 party-list groups are on the back of the ballot.

Comelec spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco made the remark as senatorial candidate Teddy Casiño reported that Makabayan party-list is getting overvotes, saying the ink shading for Page 1 candidates is bleeding into the back of the ballots.

“There are reports that Makabayan is getting overvotes on the party-list because the ink in Page 1 is seeping,” Casiño said on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday.

But Laudiangco said this is not possible.

“Ovals in front and back page are not facing each other, So, any bleed through of the ink in the oval on Page 1 won’t seep through in any oval on Page 2,” Laudiangco told reporters in a Viber message.

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More than 68 million registered voters are expected to cast their ballots for the midterm polls, which will have 18,255 elective local and national posts nationwide.

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Regular voting is from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., but priority sectors like senior citizens, persons with disabilities, and pregnant women voted as early as 5 a.m. /MR