Comelec tallies 2.13M new voters at end of latest listup

Comelec chair George Garcia —Photo by Marianne Bermudez

MANILA, Philippines — Commission on Elections (Comelec) chair George Garcia once again praised youth voters on Sunday after the agency logged over 2.13 million applicants at the end of its 10-day voter registration for the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE).

“With the conclusion of the voter registration, we would like to extend our thanks to the more than 2 million individuals who persevered, patiently lined up and took part in the most successful, historic and extraordinary opportunity such as this in a short amount of time,” Garcia said in Filipino in a statement.

“This proves that we truly want each of our voices to be heard no matter their station in life. It is truly the Filipino youth who will persist in carrying the future of the country. Answering the challenge and call is part of becoming a hero of our race,” he added.

READ: Comelec urges Congress to pass law on early voting hours

The Comelec chief earlier underscored the strength of the youth voters when he recalled the high voter turnout during the May midterm polls, recorded at 82.2 percent. Half of the voters, he had said, were from the youth.

According to Comelec, the partial number of processed applications from Aug. 1 to Aug. 9 has reached over 2.13 million, with the highest number coming from Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) at 265,957 and Central Luzon at 220,650, followed by Bicol region with 169,378 and National Capital Region with 156,456.

Garcia previously stated that this year’s registration for the BSKE has been one of the most successful voter registration in history, logging the most number of applications in the shortest period of time.

With over 2 million registrants, the Comelec surpassed its initial goal of 1 million and its second target of 1.5 million applicants. This is despite news that President Marcos would be signing into law a bill that would lengthen the terms of Barangay and SK officials, effectively postponing the BSKE to November next year.

Given that the President has yet to sign the bill, however, the Comelec proceeded with its preparations for the BSKE and conducted a 10-day voter registration from Aug. 1 to Aug. 10, as well as a Special Register Anywhere Program from Aug. 1 to Aug. 7.

“Until the second week of July, there was still no law … we said, ‘we have a problem,’ because our problem is, what if the December 1 elections were to push through? We would not have 15- to 17-year-old [voters] … we are going to disenfranchise the youth big time,” Garcia earlier said.

“That’s why we said, we need to have even just 10 days of registration, particularly for the youth,” the Comelec chief said. /cb