Photo credit: PTV

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has just dropped a sneak peek at what the ballots for the 2025 Midterm Elections will look like. This first look is a big deal for both overseas and local absentee voters as the finalized ballot templates are gearing up to make their way to the printing presses.

Comelec has announced a whopping 1,667 different ballot templates, and over 70 million ballots are set to start rolling off the presses on Monday, January 6. It’s all systems go as the law department gives the green light, sending these templates over to the IT department for the final touch-up — encoding, serializing, and adding those distinct serial numbers to ensure each ballot is one-of-a-kind.

“Once the law department gives it a check, it goes back to our ITD group for implementation. That means encoding everything, adding serial numbers, and ensuring each ballot is unique,” shared Comelec spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco.

If you’re curious, candidates and voters alike can hop onto the Comelec official website to check out the ballot templates. They’ve made sure to clear out any disqualified or nuisance candidates from the list—unless there’s an ongoing legal back-and-forth. In such cases, those names will stay put on the ballot until all issues are resolved.

“For overseas and local absentee voters, we're ensuring everything’s set in time. If a candidate gets a temporary restraining order or has pending cases, their names will remain on the ballot until a final decision is made,” Laudiangco added.
Starting Monday morning, January 6, the finalized templates will make their journey from Comelec’s Biñan warehouse to the National Printing Office, marking the next big step in prepping for the 2025 elections. So, keep an eye out, voters — election season is just around the corner.