FACT CHECK: Comelec’s ballot is not prone to overvote due to ink bleeding

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While it is possible for the marking pen’s ink to bleed through the ballot paper, there are no two circles on the ballot that overlap

Claim: According to a Facebook post, if the voter presses the shading marker too hard on the ballot paper provided by the Commission on Elections (Comelec), the ink can bleed through, filling up a circle on the other side that causes the voter to unintentionally overvote.

Rating: FALSE

Why we fact-checked this: The Facebook post by “Eric Krister Nicolas Songcuan” has been shared 146 times, with 19 comments and 287 reactions as of writing.

The post reads: “The marking pen that the Comelec provides sobrang kapal ang dulo ng pen at ang lalabas na ink ay sobrang kapal din and very easy to blot on the ballot and the tendency is to reach on the other circle of the ballot representing another candidate.”

(The marking pen that the Comelec provides has a very thick tip, and the ink that comes out is very heavy and easily blots on the ballot. The tendency is to reach the other circle of the ballot, representing another candidate.)

This is a repost, and other users and pages have been posting similar “advisories.” One similar post is from a user called “Atty. Bobbet Torreon,” which has at least 6,600 shares, 165 comments, and 1,700 reactions.

The facts: The Comelec disputed that their ballots for the 2025 elections are so sensitive that voters should resort to just putting a dot on the candidates’ circles to avoid overvoting.

“Ito po ay hindi opisyal na payo ng Comelec at maaaring magdulot ng invalid na boto kung mali ang paraan ng pagmarka,” the Comelec said in a Facebook post on Thursday, May 8. (This is not official advice from the Comelec, and may lead to an invalid vote if the wrong style of marking is used.)

The Comelec said that the correct way to vote with the marking pen and ballot is to completely shade the red circle next to the names of one’s chosen candidates. They added that the official ballots went through a “rigid quality assurance” process, and are ink-absorbent and compatible with the official marking pens.

The vote-counting machines from Miru Systems are designed to read votes if the circles are at least 15% filled. This means that it is okay to even go over the lines a bit as long as the mark does not reach the neighboring circle. 

Comelec Chairman George Garcia has also repeatedly emphasized in media interviews that while the marking pen may bleed through, unintentional overvoting because of the quality of the provided materials is not possible since there are no two circles on opposite sides of the ballot that overlap.

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– Rappler.com

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