Printing of additional ballots suspended

COMMISSION on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Erwin Garcia said on Wednesday that the printing of additional 1.6 million ballots for the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) on Oct. 30, 2023 was suspended.

The printing of additional ballots was supposed to start second to third week of May.

The directive was in line with the removal of 491,000 multiple and double registrants from the list of the newly registered voters, covering December 2022 to Jan. 31, 2023.

“This coming June, we are convening the Election Registration Board in every municipality to remove these names,” Garcia said in a television interview.

Garcia said that fraudulent registrants will face prosecution.

“Of course, we are also preparing to file a case of election offense with a punishment of one to six years imprisonment to those proven double or multiple registrants,” he added.

Earlier, Sen. Maria Imelda Josefa “Imee” Marcos filed a resolution to conduct investigation on alleged fraudulent voter registration, particularly citing the Barangay Carmona, Makati City case.

Initial probe revealed that the scheme was masterminded by an aspiring politician.

Meanwhile, the Comelec will hold a command conference with the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police to discuss security concerns for the upcoming BSKE.