By Ferdinand Patinio/PNA
MANILA — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Monday said it will release the final list of national and local candidates for the May 2019 mid-term polls next week.
According to Comelec spokesman James Jimenez, they expect the names of candidates, whose names will be printed in the official ballots to be out by December 15.
“We are expecting the release of the final list by December 15,” Jimenez said in an interview.
Aside from national and local bets, Jimenez added that the actual list of aspirants will include those that still have pending disqualification cases.
“If your disqualification comes after that cut-off date, then your name will still be on the ballot. But there will be an information campaign to inform the public that you have been disqualified. And if they still get votes, then those votes will be considered stray,” Jimenez added.
For supposed nuisance candidates, who are facing motu proprio petitions to deny due course or cancellation of Certificates of Candidacy (COCs), they will possibly be excluded from the list already.
“By that time, there will likely be ruling on those cases already,” he said.
In November, the poll body released the initial list of the aspirants in the forthcoming elections to allow them to check their names that will appear on the official ballots.
The Comelec is looking to start printing the ballots by January next year.
