Comelec complies with SC TROs
Commission on Elections Chair George Erwin Garcia briefs the media on Wednesday, 15 January 2025, regarding the Supreme Court's recent temporary restraining order against the disqualification cases of five candidates, including former Caloocan City Representative Edgar Erice. Garcia said the 6 million ballots printed for the midterm elections are now "back to zero" and rendered useless following the court’s order.
John Carlo Magallon
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has announced its compliance with three new Supreme Court Temporary Restraining Orders (TROs) related to local candidates for the 12 May 2025 National and Local Elections and the BARMM Parliamentary Elections.
In response, the Comelec has suspended ballot printing, disposed of six million already printed ballots, and updated the candidates’ database. Adjustments to the Election Management System (EMS), Automated Election System (AES), and other technologies are underway.
“Thus, the supplementary changes necessitated by the three (3) recent TROs could be promptly effected just before the conduct of the rescheduled Trusted Build and Reprinting of Official Ballots next week,” the statement read.
The Trusted Build of the AES is scheduled for 20 January 2025 at the Chairman’s Hall, Ground Floor, Palacio del Gobernador, Intramuros, Manila.
Meanwhile, new 1,667 ballot face templates will be generated and serialized on 21 January 2025 at the Comelec Warehouse in Laguna Technopark Annex, Biñan, Laguna.
“Once again, the COMELEC assures the Filipino people that we are fully in control of the situation, and that these supervening events which admittedly impacted election preparations and caused delays in Ballot Production and other Preparatory Election Activities are hurdles the Commission can completely handle, overcome, and resolve,” the statement further emphasized.