Delisted voters urged to register

MANILA, Philippines — Commission on Elections Chairperson George Erwin Garcia advised those who were removed from the Comelec list of voters to participate in the ongoing voters’ registration to be able to participate in upcoming elections.

“We have this ongoing registration and we also have this what we call ‘reactivation.’ Meaning, even if they were delisted, it doesn’t follow that they are not considered voters anymore. They are still voters, their records are still there but as a form of punishment by the law is that you won’t be able to vote temporarily,” said Garcia in a radio interview.

Earlier, Comelec said some 4.2 million names were deleted from its official list of voters. Most of those delisted were from the Calabarzon region. Among the reasons for the deletion are the failure to vote in two successive regular elections, by a court order, loss of Filipino citizenship and having non-valid documents.            

The Comelec said most of the 4.2 million voters that were delisted was due to their failure to vote in the last two elections – the May 2022 national elections and the December 2023 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan polls.

The current voter registration period for the May 2025 midterm polls started on Feb. 12 and will run until Sept. 30. Applicants may register from Monday to Saturday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., at any Comelec office nationwide. 

According to the Comelec, more than 2.5 million new voters were already registered for the 2025 midterm elections as of May 5.

The poll body expressed optimism it will be able to reach the projected three million additional registered voters.