Comelec chairman eyes re-registration to cleanse voters list for 2028 elections

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 23)— Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Garcia called on Congress to allow the body to open re-registration of voters to cleanse the list for the 2028 polls.

He renewed his appeal to lawmakers on Thursday, citing the need for a more accurate national list of registered voters for the presidential and vice presidential elections.

“Pinu-push natin yan at pinapakiusap natin sa ating kagalang-galang na kongreso na baka pupwedeng pag-isipan natin after the 2025 elections para back to zero tayo,” Garcia said.

“Balewala natin ang present list of voters, malay natin hindi naman pala talaga siya 68 million,” he added.

[Translation: We are pushing for this and we are asking Congress to consider this after the 2025 elections, so that we’ll go back to zero. Let’s replace the present list of voters, we’re not even sure if that 68 million voters are still accurate.]

Garcia explained the Comelec cannot act on its own since the move needs legislation.

He believed that the re-registration will help allay fears and doubts of voters who encounter issues with the official list.

“Doon masisigurado po natin na yung mga magrerehistrong bago, sila talaga yung residente diyan sa mga lugar kung saan sila nandiyan," he said. «Number two, at least po maaayos na natin yung mga nagpa-transfer.»

[Translation: With this, we can make sure that we will be able to register the new voters, and we can know if they are really residents of the area. Number two, at least we can organize those who want to transfer.]

The poll chief said they recently discovered 491,000 double or multiple registrants in the current list through its automated fingerprint identification system (AFIS).

He said the re-registration will help update their biometrics, since the oldest set of fingerprints available dates back to 2003.

Aside from updating their data, he said there is a need to procure new technology – automated biometric identification system (ABIS) – for the general registration.

“Sa atin four fingerprints ang ginagamit natin eh," Garcia pointed out. "'Yung ABIS po 10 fingerprints, pagkatapos meron pang facial recognition, meron pang iris