MANILA, Philippines?Up to five million new voters will register by year-end for the 2010 polls, the Commission on Elections said Friday.

?By year-end, we project about two million to five million new voters to register for the May 2010 elections,? said Comelec spokesman James Jimenez.

As of October 2007, there were 48,190,702 registered voters, Comelec statistics showed.

Of these, about nine million are youth voters, between 18 to 35 years old. The figures do not include deactivated voters.

If at least two million voters will register, there will be about 11 million youth voters and a total of 50 million voters who can cast their ballots for the 2010 national and local elections, Jimenez said.

He said youth votes will significantly determine the type of leaders the country will elect.

?The youth is one of the instrumental groups in choosing the leaders of the country, along with other age groups. Today, more than ever they have the power to have a say on which political leader will win,? said Jimenez.

The regions with the most number of registered voters are Region IV-A Calabarzon at 6.1 million, the National Capital Region at 5.99 million and Region III Central Luzon at 5.47 million.

The Cordillera Administrative Region has the least number of registered voters, 840,145.

There are 2.627 million registered voters in Region I, 1.735 million in Region II Cagayan Valley, 1. 37 million in Region IV-B Mimaropa, 2.77 in Region V Bicol, 3.916 million in Region VI Western Visayas and 3.66 million in Region VII Central Visayas.

According to the National Statistics Office, the country?s projected population for 2009 is 92.23 million, up from 88.57 million actual population in August 2007. Over the two-year period, the population aged below 18 are about 30 million. This means there are about 10 million unregistered eligible voters.

?It has been experienced over previous elections that some citizens who are eligible voters do not register,? said Jimenez.

He said the poll body is now tapping social networking sites like Twitter, Plurk and Multiply to encourage more Filipinos, especially the youth, to register. The Comelec also has a blogging site, bagongbotante.ph.

With the planned automation, Jimenez said the 2010 polls could have more efficient and accurate voting results.