Ballot printing begins after a half-day delay

(Updated 4:32 p.m.) The printing of ballots for the May 2010 elections has finally begun after “technical considerations" hampered the process, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said Monday. This was announced by Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal at 1 p.m. after printing was delayed by more than half a day. Earlier, two printing shifts – the first scheduled for Sunday night and second at 10 a.m. Monday – were pushed back, a Balitanghali report on QTV said on Monday afternoon. The Commission had to adjust printing machines’ calibration because ballots for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) were two inches longer due to the necessary Arabic translations. Ballots for the rest of the country will measure 25 inches. Larrazabal also allayed concerns regarding the delay, saying that such calibration adjustments are normal. "Those [calibrations] are expected on the first day of printing. Even in the ARMM elections, they had to do some recalibration," he said. The Comelec decided to print the ARMM ballots first because of the ballot’s length and proposals to hold early elections in the region, Larrazabal told reporters. Once it begins, printing will run for eight hours straight, producing 776,000 ballots for the period. Starting either Friday or Saturday this week, printing will begin in 24 hours, divided into three shifts. A total of nearly 51 million ballots, one per each registered voter, is expected to be printed. There are already 50,723,734 registered voters, 37,422 voting centers, and 76,340 clustered precincts as of January 15. Smartmatic – the company that supplied the Comelec with automated voting machines – refused to rush printing to avoid any problems that “would be encountered in the middle of the process," GMA News’ Mariz Umali reported. Ballots printed should be “millimetrically precise" to avoid “scanning problems," Heider Garcia, Smartmatic Election Systems Manager, said in the Balitanghali report. “You want to make sure that things are done the right way." Poll watchdog seeks technical report from Comelec In the meantime, poll watchdog Kontra Daya 2010 wrote in its official website that it had received reports of possible serious technical problems which caused the recent delay in the printing of official ballots. Kontra Daya wrote that the information they received said there was an apparent problem with the printing machines, and the training ballots printed for the ARMM were unreadable by the PCOS machines. Kontra Daya urges the Comelec and Smartmatic to release a full technical report detailing the real status of the printing, which has been delayed several times. Smartmatic allays concerns over ballot printing delay Despite the delay, Smartmatic remains confident of delivery of 51 million ballots as scheduled on April 25. In the meantime, 24-hour security remains very tight, Umali said, adding that not everyone is allowed to enter the NPO premises, let alone the official printing room. Earlier today, the NPO was shown abuzz with around a hundred people, including NPO, Comelec, and Smartmatic staff. The NPO has four digital printers, each with a capacity to produce 200,000 ballots a day. Larrazabal said that it will take the printers about 60 to 70 days to print all the official ballots for the May polls. Ballots to be thoroughly checked The ballots will have the complete list of candidates as well as a barcode. After printing, the ballots will be brought to the sheeters to be cut. Then they will be brought to Barcode Station One, where the ballots' barcodes will be checked for compatibility with their respective clustered precincts. Candidates names will also be checked. The ballots will then undergo a PCOS (Precinct Count Optical Scan) machine test scan before being brought to Barcode Station 2, where compatibility with the clustered precincts will be checked a second time. Rejected ballots will be placed in a quarantine station and assigned staff will see if minimal errors can be remedied. "It won't be shipped out if it does not pass the PCOS machine," said Larrazabal. Approved ballots, on the other hand, will be brought to a reception area to await their shipping day. Last Saturday's mock polls, which were conducted simultaneously in selected precincts nationwide, was a "fairly smooth process," according to Comelec Chairman Jose Melo in an earlier report. Larrazabal said that they also plan to open the PCOS machine warehouse in Cabuyao, Laguna to interested parties. The automated elections will be a first for the country. - RJAB Jr./KBK, GMANews.TV