Comelec prints over half of 72M midterm ballots

Over nine million ballots for the 2025 midterm elections have been printed at the National Printing Office, with Comelec chairperson George Erwin Garcia reporting a total of 34.2 million ballots completed as of Tuesday evening.

As of Thursday, Comelec has printed more than half of the total number of ballots needed for the May 12 midterm elections, surpassing the initial goal and reaching 53 percent of the required 72,097,420 official ballots.

The Commission aims to print approximately 1.5 million ballots daily but has adjusted its verification deadline from April 14 to April 20 due to the sheer volume of printed ballots requiring manual and machine checks.

Comelec has hired an additional 1,000 workers for the verification process, with around 12 to 13 million official ballots already verified as of Thursday.

Up for grabs in the May 12 elections are 317 congressional seats and thousands of local posts, with the biggest battle being for 12 spots in the 24-seat Senate.