The Commission on Elections (Comelec) looks to destroy defective ballots by the last week of April.
This was according to Commissioner Marlon Casquejo, head of the poll body's printing committee, on Monday, April 18. He has stated that after the ballots are “reverified”, the identified defective ballots will then be incinerated.
Comelec earlier told the House committee on suffrage and electoral reforms in March that the defective ballots will be presented to the public, accounted for individually with proper data and burned in front of all the political parties, the candidates and their representatives.
Casquejo said on April 6 that the number of defective ballots has reached 220,000 after further verification and quality control. He also made the assurance that these defective ballots will be destroyed.
Comelec Chairman Saidamen Pangarungan already declared on April 8 that the Comelec is prepared for the May 9 National and Local Elections.
Meanwhile, Casquejo mentioned that there are only a few ballots numbering 10 to 20 that need reprinting.
On the other hand, Vote Counting Machines (VCMs) have already been delivered to faraway areas since the first and second week of April while for the third and fourth week, ballots may be delivered.