Comelec sees 68M voters next year

THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday said as many as 68 million Filipinos could be registered voters in the country come the May 2025 national and local polls.

In making the projection, Comelec spokesman John Rex Laudiangco cited the prevailing trend in the ongoing voter registration period nationwide.

“If all the new applicants will get approved, it will not be impossible for us to reach 66 to 68 million come the May 2025 elections,” said Laudiangco in a televised media briefing.

He said the number is almost similar to the 2023 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE), which had 67,839,861 registered voters.

“The BSKE number has gone down since there are those that were deactivated,” he explained.

In the ongoing voter registration activities, the Comelec said 4,827,794 have applied between February 12 to July 30 to become registered voters.

Calabarzon has the most number of applicants with 801,784; followed by the National Capital Region with 650,683; and Central Luzon with 557,082.

Having the lowest number of registrants is the Cordillera Administrative Region with only 64,613.

Voter registration activities are held Mondays to Saturdays, including holidays, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in all Offices of the Election Officer (OEO) nationwide.

The voter registration period is set to end on September 30, 2024.

Meanwhile, the Comelec has deleted 391,497 registered voters in its list.

Data from the Comelec as of the July 15 hearing of the Election Registration Board (ERB) showed that 208,996 names were stricken off the voters list due to their deaths.