More voters to share precincts due to lower 2025 polls budget

THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday said as many as 1,000 voters will share a clustered precinct and one voting machine during the May 2025 national and local elections due to the lower budget it got in the 2024 General Appropriations Act (GAA).

In a phone interview, Comelec chairman George Garcia said the lower budget necessitated the reduction of the number of voting machines, ballot boxes, election paraphernalia, and Electoral Board members to be deployed.

“This is because the budget provided to us has been reduced,” said Garcia.

He noted that having only 800 maximum number of registered voters per clustered precinct, as it did during the May 2022 national and local elections, would require P27 billion.

On the other hand, Garcia said combining 1,000 registered voters into one clustered precinct would only need P22 billion.

The higher number of voters in one clustered precinct is indicated in Comelec Resolution No. 10965, which states: “Each clustered precinct shall have unlimited number of established precincts but not more than 1,000 voters.”

A clustered precinct is a polling place comprised of several established precincts. On the other hand, an established precinct is the designated area where a registered voter is assigned to cast his/her vote.

The Comelec has the authority to adjust the maximum number of registered voters per clustered precinct by taking into consideration the actual number of voting machines available and other factors or reasonable grounds present.

Under Comelec Resolution No. 10965, the Project of Precincts must be submitted to the Commission En Banc on or before December 16, 2024.

The Project of Precincts is a document prepared by the Election Officer (EO) of a district/city/municipality, which contains data on the number of barangays, established precincts, clustered precincts, voting centers, and registered voters.