Over 12 million ballots for the 2025 national and local elections have been printed, over a week after printing resumed at the National Printing Office (NPO), according to the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
Based on the latest data sent to reporters by Comelec Chairperson George Garcia on Tuesday night, 4 February, a total of 12,721,925 ballots have been printed by the poll body.
This represents 17.64 percent of the total 72.1 million ballots required for this year's elections.
With that, the Comelec still needs to produce 58,385,495 ballots.
In a media forum on Wednesday, Garcia said the Comelec would use the Amoranto Sports Complex in Quezon City as a venue for verification of ballots that have been printed for the upcoming polls.
Because the NPO does not have enough space, in order for the poll body to maximize its ballot verification process, it would need a bigger space.
"The Quezon City government is lending us the entire Amoranto Stadium for free [for two months]," Garcia said, noting that the poll body will use the entire basketball court.
Garcia assured that the stadium would be secured because law enforcement authorities, election observers, and Comelec staff would monitor the ballot verification, and the process would be live-streamed.
He added that the entry and exit of personnel will be limited and they will need identification.
The Comelec is targeting to print 1.5 million ballots daily to make up for the printing delays caused by the temporary restraining orders issued by the Supreme Court against the disqualification of some aspirants.
The poll body aims to finish printing ballots by 14 April, or about a month before the midterm elections on 12 May.