Comelec chairman George Erwin Garcia speaks before the media in a registration center in Bongao, Tawi-tawi. INQUIRER.net file photo / John Eric Mendoza
After its experimental “register anywhere” project for new voters, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) is now looking to also conduct a pilot test on holding the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan polls in October in select malls. In a radio interview on Friday, Comelec Chair George Garcia said the poll body plans to transfer select polling precincts, but only those in close proximity to malls, the casting and counting of votes on election day. But only about three areas would be selected for this pilot project, he said. “If this would prove to be successful and [more efficient] for voters, maybe we could let voters nationwide cast their votes at malls in the 2025 [elections],” he said. Garcia said he had already discussed the plan with mall operators, who welcomed the idea and even suggested opening the premises earlier than their regular working hours. —Kathleen de Villa