Comelec removes 5.1 million from list of voters

Inquirer files

MANILA, Philippines — Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chair George Garcia has said that more than 5 million registered voters were removed from their list for failing to participate in the last two successive polls and other reasons.

The number was higher than the three million new voters the poll body was hoping to add to the voters’ list at the end of the six-month-long registration period on Sept. 30.

As of July 27, the Comelec has processed almost 4.7 million voter registration applications. The applications, however, are still pending approval or disapproval by election registration boards (ERBs).

READ: Comelec registers over 4 million new voters

Garcia, in a message to reporters on Sunday, said that ERBs nationwide deactivated a total of 5,105,191 registered voters and also deleted 248,972 people from the national list of registered voters.

The number of deactivated and deleted voters would be deducted from the current total number of voters, which was 67,839,861 during the October 2023 barangay (village) and Sangguniang Kabataan (youth council) elections (BSKE).

Most deactivated voters failed to participate in two consecutive regular elections—the May 2022 national and local elections, and the Oct. 30, 2023, BSKE.

Some, on the other hand, were deactivated as ordered by a court. Others failed to validate their records, lost their citizenship, or were convicted with finality for a serious offense.

A voter’s registration, meanwhile, is deleted if their fingerprints based on the Automated Fingerprint Identification System are found to be identical to those of other persons. Other causes are death, as confirmed by the local civil registrars, or if the voter has double or multiple records at the city or municipal levels.

The Comelec is preparing for three elections next year. These are the national and local elections in May, the Bangsamoro parliament elections scheduled also during the same month and the BSKE in December.