Comelec tallies 2.1M voter registrants

THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) has so far tallied over 2.1 million new registrants for the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE), it reported on Sunday.

The commission reported it has processed a total of 2.14 million applications submitted from Aug. 1-9, exceeding its expected one million registrants ahead of its Aug. 10 deadline for registration.

Chairman George Erwin M. Garcia thanked more than two million Filipinos who participated in what he described as the most successful and historic voter registration drive in recent history.

He added that the overwhelming turnout, achieved within a short registration period, demonstrated the public’s strong desire to have their voices heard, regardless of social status.

“Indeed, the Filipino youth are the ones truly standing firm in carrying the nation’s future. Rising to the challenge and answering the call is an act of heroism for the nation,” he told reporters in Filipino via a Viber chat group.

Calabarzon tallied the most registrants with over 265,000, followed by central Luzon with 220,650. The Cordillera Administrative Region had the lowest with over 39,000.

Comelec’s special register anywhere program recorded over 10,000 registrants.

The polls are expected to be reset to November 2026 pending President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.’s signing of a new law that will delay the December 2025 polls.

According to a transcript, published by the Presidential Communications Office, Mr. Marcos on Saturday told media representatives in India that he will sign the bill, as opposed to earlier reports that he will let the measure lapse into on Aug. 14.

The village and youth council elections, originally set for Dec. 1, will be postponed to next year to allow Comelec to focus on the first-ever Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao’s parliamentary elections set for October. — Chloe Mari A. Hufana