Manila, June 24 -- Ballot faces for the upcoming automated Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections (BPE) have been approved while the source code is being finished, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said Tuesday.

"Preparations for automation are underway. Now we are finishing the source code. Yesterday (Monday), the Comelec en banc approved the ballot faces. That is needed in the source code," Comelec Chairperson George Garcia said in an interview.

"All the necessary equipment and budget" for the first-ever BPE have also been prepared, Garcia said. "Even the training of Electoral Board members and support staff is already laid out for us."

He said the months of June and July are "very crucial" in their preparations for the first-ever BP...