Comelec ready in case SC issues TRO vs internet voting

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said Thursday it has a Plan B in place in case the Supreme Court (SC) issues a temporary restraining order (TRO) against allowing overseas Filipinos to vote via the internet in the upcoming midterm elections.

The Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan (PDP–Laban) earlier filed a petition before the Supreme Court seeking a TRO to nullify internet voting, arguing that a "new and unprecedented electoral process" was being implemented without a law properly enacted by Congress.

While the poll body has yet to receive a TRO, Comelec Chairperson George Garcia said they already have a contingency measure in place.

"Your Commission is ready in the event that we receive anything from the SC. But so far, there's still none," Garcia assured.

"We have 16,000 excess machines that we can use—not only as contingency machines but also ones we can deploy to our embassies and consulates," he continued.

Garcia also noted that printing ballots for overseas voters would be manageable given the limited number of registrants.

"It will only take us a day to print those ballots at the National Printing Office," he added.

There are 77 Philippine posts overseas that are set to implement internet voting.