THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) has started retrieving more than 1,000 yellow ballot boxes from its warehouses in Mandaue City and Cebu City as part of the early preparations for the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) which will be done manually and scheduled for December 2025.
In Mandaue City, the ballot boxes used in the 2019 to 2023 barangay elections were previously under the custody of the City Treasurer’s Office but have now been turned over to the local Comelec office for inventory and evaluation.
According to Jacquelyn Reuyan, Election Assistant II of Comelec Mandaue, each ballot box will undergo a thorough inspection to determine whether it is still fit for reuse.
“We check the boxes for any physical damage. Those in good condition will be cleaned and repainted through the assistance of the Department of General Services (DGS), while broken or unusable ones will be recycled,” Reuyan said.
Reuyan explained that manual elections require more ballot boxes compared to automated polls.
This is because each precinct in a manual election must have its own ballot box, as voters manually write the names of their chosen candidates.
In contrast, automated elections use automated counting machines (ACMs), and precincts are usually grouped or “clustered,” with three to four precincts sharing a single machine and ballot box.
“Sa manual elections, like barangay and SK, one precinct is served by one yellow ballot box, and each precinct serves around 200 to 250 voters. Since voters take time writing names, precincts need to be smaller,” she said.
However, Reuyan added that precinct clustering might still be implemented, depending on the number of registered voters in each barangay.
Ballot boxes
Comelec Mandaue is currently assessing whether its existing stockpile of ballot boxes will be sufficient, or if there is a need to request additional units from the national office in Manila.
Meanwhile, in Cebu City, the Comelec has also started preparations. North District Election Officer Ambongan Aguilar said that their yellow ballot boxes are still stored at the DGS warehouse located at the South Road Properties (SRP).
An inventory will soon be conducted in coordination with the City Treasurer’s Office to determine the number of boxes available and their usability.
Aguilar said that similar inspection and cleaning processes will be done for Cebu City’s boxes before they can be certified for reuse in the December polls.
The Comelec reminds the public that the filing of Certificates of Candidacy (COC) for the BSKE will run from October 1 to 7, 2025.
In the meantime, local election offices are organizing the official schedule for inspecting, repainting, and securing the retrieved ballot boxes. / Trixcy Shien Cobarde, Benedicto College Intern, Hilary Natalie Berongoy, HNU Intern, and Zenn Dee Tejero, CNU Intern