Sunday, March 11, 2007 Lack of ballots, other poll forms may hound May elections: commissioner
A SENIOR official of the Commission on Elections (Comelc) on Saturday expressed fear that the National Printing Office (NPO) would not be able to complete the printing of ballots and other election forms on time.
He said the printing of 45 million ballots for the May 14 elections would take three to four months.
"Kulang na tayo sa oras at hindi pa kasama dito yung (We lack time already and it does not even include) circumstances that would happen while transporting the ballots and other materials," said Comelec executive director Jose Pio Joson.
Joson said the NPO would need 45 days to print 45 million ballots at 1 million ballots per day and an additional two weeks more to print the election returns (ER), statement of votes (SOV), voters’ registration and not to mention the certificate of canvass (COC).
It was only last Monday that the NPO started printing the ballots.
Comelec has allocated more than P800 million for the printing of ballots and other election paraphernalia.
He said the printing of the ballots and other election forms should be complete by the middle of April because the first shipment of the accountable forms should be out by March 12 or 15 for the overseas absentee voting (OAV).
"Absentee voters are voting as early as April 15 so we need to send the forms by March 12 to 15 in order to reach its destination on time," Joson added.
Within the first week of May or two weeks before the election, all forms should have been transported to the regions and distributed to the city and municipal treasurers because these are checked and verified five days before the elections to ensure that all the needed materials are accounted properly. (MSN/Sunnex)
