FOURTEEN out of the country’s 17 regions now have official ballots ready for the October 2023 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE).
This after the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and the National Printing Office (NPO) successfully printed the official ballots for the village and youth polls eight months before it is set to be conducted.
Data shows that the official ballots both for barangay and SK polls have been printed in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, Caraga, Soccsksargen, Davao Region, Northern Mindanao, Zamboanga Peninsula, Eastern Visayas, Central Visayas, Western Visayas, Bicol Region, Mimaropa, Calabarzon, Cagayan Valley and Cordillera Administrative Region.
For the SK polls, also fully printed are those for Ilocos Region and Central Luzon, thereby leaving those for the National Capital Region up for printing.
For the barangay elections, still to be printed are those for Ilocos Region, Central Luzon and National Capital Region.
Going by the numbers, a total of 49,599,193 barangay ballots have been printed.
This is 74 percent of the 66,973,949 barangay ballots needed to be printed.
On the other hand, there are already 21,422,300 SK ballots printed.
This is 90 percent of the 23,639,477 SK ballots required for the forthcoming elections.
The Comelec previously said that the numbers do not include yet those that applied during the last voter registration period held from December 12, 2022 to January 31, 2023. (HDT/SunStar Philippines)