Comelec to resume voters’ registration third week of October

Comelec Chair George Erwin Garcia. Photo by NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is expecting 1.4 million new voter registrants as it resumes voter registration in the third week of October ahead of the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) next year.

Comelec Chairperson George Erwin Garcia made this pronouncement almost two months after the poll body conducted a 10-day voter registration drive before the postponement of 2025 BSKE.

“One of the components of the Barangay and SK Elections is the resumption of the voters’ registration in the third week of October,” Garcia said in a press conference.

Garcia added that the new voter registration period will last until July next year, four months away from the November 2 elections.

READ: Marcos signs law postponing BSKE to Nov. 2026; officials’ terms extended

Last August 13, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed the law extending the current three-year term of the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan officials, which effectively postponed the elections originally scheduled on December 1, 2025.

Garcia earlier shared that the poll body received around 2.8 million voters’ registration during the 10-day drive, which began from August 1 to August 10. This exceeded the poll body’s target of registering 1.5 million new applicants.

Meanwhile, Garcia said that the voter applicants from the August registration drive and the new registrants will not be able to vote for the first Bangsamoro parliamentary elections.

He explained that the Republic Act 12123, the law postponing the parliamentary elections from May 12, 2025 to October 13, 2025, indicates that the elections are a continuation of the May 2025 midterm elections.

“The ones included in the voters’ list in May 12 [elections] are those who can vote for the Bangsamoro parliamentary elections,” he added.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday announced that the October 13, 2025 elections are postponed as it declared the Bangsamoro Autonomy Act (BAA) No. 77, the redistricting law, and its predecessor, BAA No. 58 as unconstitutional.

BSKE preparations

Garcia on Wednesday announced that the poll body terminated its preparations for the BSKE through a memorandum issued last Tuesday. However, he said that the procurement and bidding process will continue.

He then shared that the Comelec will begin printing around 93 million ballots for the BSKE starting this month. He said that the poll body decided to proceed with the printing as it did not receive any temporary restraining order stopping them from implementing the law. /mr