The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is targeting to finish the printing of 50 million ballots by April.

Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal said they will start printing the ballots on Jan. 31 in order to finish the printing on time.

“We have to start printing early because that takes time. We are printing about 50 million plus ballots,” he said in a press briefing at the National Printing Office (NPO) in Quezon City.

Larrazabal said they estimate to print 800,000 ballots a day using four printers and this will last for 60 to 70 days. “Based on a 30 inch ballot it’s about 700,000 but what we are looking at now is about 25 or 26 inch ballot. That’s about 800,000 ballots a day,” he said.

The shipping of the ballots, on the other hand, will start two months before the May 10 polls which is earlier than the usual procedure.

“The shipping will start around March. This will be shipped to the treasurers’ office, who will then distribute it to the Board of Election Inspectors (BEIs) on the day of the Elections,” said Larrazabal.

In the past, Comelec did not ship the election paraphernalia, including the election returns, statement of votes, certificates of canvass and ballots, until the first week of May or two weeks before Election Day.

Officials of Comelec and Smartmatic-TIM Corporation, meantime, explained the reason behind the early shipment.