Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 10) — Voter registration for the May 2025 midterm elections will resume on Feb. 12, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said on Wednesday.
Comelec Chairman George Garcia told reporters the commission expects three million more people to enlist until the end of the registration period on Sept. 30. They will add to the current 68 million.
Voter registration last took place on Dec. 12, 2022 to Jan. 31, 2023.
Garcia said Comelec will issue revised guidelines on the documentary requirements for voter registration, which include the use of strictly government-issued IDs.
Company IDs will not be accepted, he said.
“Ang dami po nating nakitang mga umabuso,” he explained. “Sa alam niyo naman, pwedeng mag-produce, mag-mass produce ng napakaraming company ID. Anong control natin doon? Paano natin mave-verify kung talagang apat na libo ba ang kanyang empleyado na nagparehistro sa isang lugar?\”
[Translation: We have seen a lot of people abusing this. As you know, you can mass produce company IDs. How can we control that? How can we verify if a company really has 4,000 employees that have registered in a certain area?]
Garcia said Comelec will also expand the Register Anywhere Project nationwide to include all highly urbanized cities and municipalities, as well as capital cities of provinces.
Comelec carried out the pilot run of the project in January last year in select malls in Metro Manila, Bicol, Central Visayas, as well as universities and government agencies.
Filipinos can register to vote, transfer their records or update their details even if they are outside their area of residence.
Garcia also reminded Filipinos overseas to register to vote before the Sept. 30 deadline.
Applicants must bring an accomplished Overseas Voter Registration Form, their Philippine passport, and other necessary requirements.
People can register to vote, reactivate their registration or update their details at the nearest Comelec Office for Overseas Voting, Philippine embassy or consulate general.
The Comelec earlier approved electronic or online voting for overseas Filipinos (OF) for the 2025 elections. The poll body said the system for internet voting would be secure and that it could verify and authenticate OF voters through biometric data.
Overseas voter registration began on Dec. 9, 2022. Garcia said he is hopeful internet voting could increase the number of registered voters by up to five million.
