MANILA — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is "90 percent prepared" to hold the midterm national and local elections scheduled on May 13, the poll body's spokesperson said Wednesday.

Comelec Spokesman James Jimenez says Comelec 90% prepared for the May 2019 Elections. It would have been 95% if not for the earthquake

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Part of the remaining 10 percent of the work, according to Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez, is the deployment of about 85,000 machines that will be used for the automated elections.

Jimenez added that their "preparedness level" would have been at 95 percent had parts of country not been struck by a series of earthquakes.

• INFOGRAPHIC: The damage left by the 6.1-magnitude Luzon earthquake

Amid the setback, Jimenez said the poll body is already in the process of analyzing the readiness of each facility assigned to hold the elections, especially in places damaged by the earthquakes.

So far, there have been no recommendations yet for changes of polling centers due to the earthquake.

Comelec added they will start the shipping of the ballots to be used on election day, prioritizing the ballots for far-flung areas.

Some 18,000 positions are up for grabs in the upcoming polls