The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is looking to start the printing of ballots that will be used in the May 2022 polls on Jan. 17.
"We hope to be able to start printing by Jan. 17. So right now we are preparing to hold a walkthrough of National Printing Office (NPO) on Jan. 15. We are finalizing preparations for that this afternoon," Comelec Spokesperson James Jimenez said in a virtual press briefing on Wednesday, Jan. 12.
"We are looking at Jan. 17 as the start, and then, normally we do start with overseas ballots mainly because they are the first out. They are going to be used as early as April," he added.
Jimenez said based on their estimate, they will finish the ballot faces by Jan. 15.
"Final ballot face means this is the final list of candidates," he said.
"We will upload it in our website. But it will be a rolling process since those are hundreds of names," Jimenez added.
Meanwhile, the Comelec is also looking to hold the presidential and vice presidential debates from February to April.
"We are talking about having indicative dates of February, March, and April. One set of debates per month probably in the third or fourth weeks," said Jimenez.