MANILA— The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will be using the more than 59 million official ballots and other accountable and non-accountable forms which were printed for last year, for the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) on May 14, 2018.
According to Comelec Resolution No. 10248, the 59,578,346 officials ballots, which were supposed to be used for the polls originally set for October 23, 2017 but was moved to May 2018, would be used this year in an effort to save public funds and government resources.
The official ballots would be used by voters in the National Capital Region (NCR), Luzon and Visayas Regions which were printed from August 9, 2017 to September 30, 2017.
At the same time, the poll body said that they would be printing new and additional ballots, accountable and non-accountable forms for those who registered from November 6, 2017 to November 30, 2017.
There were 843,588 voter applicants but the Election Registration Boards (ERBs) had yet to verify, certify and seal the List of Voters on February 7.
To avoid confusion, the Comelec explained that these new ballots will bear October 23, 2017 as the date of the elections.
However, the ballots, accountable and non-accountable forms that will be printed for the Mindanao regions will bear May 14, 2018 as the date of the elections.
No official ballots and other forms were printed for the entirety of Mindanao following the postponement of the elections there, as per Comelec resolution EM No. 17-003 promulgated on September 5, 2017.
The Omnibus Election Code neither prescribes the form and contents of the official ballots nor requires that the date of the election be specified.