THE Commission on Elections said it is targeting to finally end the delays in its preparations for the May 2019 midterm polls once it starts the printing of ballots.
In an ambush interview, Comelec Spokesman James B. Jimenez admitted the postponement of the date of the filing for certificate of candidacy (COC) took its toll on the date of their release of the final list of candidates.
Last year the poll body reset the schedule for COC filing from the original October 1 to 5, to the new window—October 11 to 17—upon the request of Congress, which was then still preoccupied with the budget deliberations.
“As we warned back then, it would create a downstream effect [in our preparations],” Jimenez said.
“Hopefully, we can cut the effects with the start of the printing,” he added.
Jimenez said the tentative date for the printing of the ballots will be from January 23 to 25. Comelec was supposed to have already completed the list as early as December 15, later pushed to December 21 last year.
It opted to reset its release date twice due to the pending disqualification cases against some of the aspiring 2019 candidates.
Currently, Jimenez said over 70 candidates of the 152 senatorial aspirants have been disqualified.
“We are just waiting for their Certificates of Finality, which will declare that their disqualification is already final,” Jimenez said in a radio interview on Tuesday.
For party list, the poll official said only 154 of the 182 groups are still in the running for the 2019 elections. The midterm polls will see races in the Senate, House of Representatives and local government units except for the barangay officials.