Comelec: Registration for overseas voting begins November 2025

Commission on Elections chairman George Garcia — File photo

MANILA, Philippines — The voter registration for the 2028 national and local elections for overseas Filipino voters will begin in November 2025, according to Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Erwin Garcia on Tuesday.

Garcia said that the overseas voter registration period will last for two years.

“Our overseas registration will be held for two years. It will start in November 2025 and will last more or less until 2027 for the overseas voting in relation to the 2028 elections,” Garcia told reporters in Filipino during an online interview.

READ: Turnout low for first online-only overseas voting

Of the 1.2 million Filipinos registered for the 2025 midterm elections, the Comelec only logged a 18.12% voter turnout for the first internet voting. The internet voting was implemented in 77 posts worldwide.

Meanwhile, Garcia shared that the poll body is eyeing to conduct a nationwide voter registration in January 2026 until 2027.

The Comelec is set to hold this year’s voter registration in relation to the 2025 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) on July 1 to July 11, 2025. Garcia also said that the voter registration will commence even if the 2025 BSKE will be postponed or not.

READ: Comelec sets voter registration period from July 1-11, 2025

Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia previously announced that the Comelec will no longer accept barangay certificates as a requirement to prove residence for the voter registration starting in July.

Garcia cited cases of mass issuance of barangay certificates that could enable irregular transfer of voter registration. /jpv