The Commission on Elections has postponed the printing of ballots. Originally scheduled today, the start of ballot printing is now scheduled for February.

According to the commission, the delay is due to the pendency of disqualification cases filed against a number of local and national candidates. Comelc Commissioner Rene Sarmiento explains that the names of candidates to be identified in the ballots should be finalized first.

The Commission also needs to finalize the exact number of people registered to vote in this election. Comelec has been saying it will need to print an exact number of ballots and just this weekend Sarmiento revealed that it has already discovered about 50,000 double and multiple registrants. The number is expected to go up further.

I've been trying to keep an optimistic view of poll automation and despite all the negative press I remain convinced this project will be good for the country. However, I am now also beginning to feel some anxiety because of the many problems and issues still being raised.

My number one concern is that the project is being unduly criticized because of certain election issues not necessarily directly connected to the automated system. The issues noted above are just two such examples.

I remain hopeful though Comelec would be able to thresh out all the problems at the soonest possible time.