The Commission on Elections (Comelec) announced Friday that the official ballots for the October 13 Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections (BPE) will begin printing on September 8.
Comelec Chairperson George Garcia said the National Printing Office (NPO) in Quezon City will handle the printing of more than 2.3 million ballots, which is expected to be completed within seven days, including verification.
“Based on what the Project Management Office (PMO) has said, this (printing) could happen by Sept. 8 so that we can better study and see the entirety of the law,” Garcia said in an interview.
“It won’t be difficult for the Comelec to complete because it’s only 2.3 to 2.4 million ballots.”
The printing was initially scheduled to begin Thursday but was postponed after Comelec received information that the law on the distribution of seven parliamentary district seats could impact the ballot design and layout.
Following a Supreme Court ruling that excluded Sulu from the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), the Bangsamoro Parliament has reconfigured its districts and reassigned the seven seats originally intended for the province.
Under the revised allocation, Lanao del Sur will get 9 seats; Maguindanao del Norte and Maguindanao del Sur, 5 each; Basilan and Tawi-Tawi, 4 each; Cotabato City, 3; and the Special Geographic Area, 2.