MORE than 4 million voters have been removed from the official list of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC).
According to the agency’s data, 4,237,054 were removed because they did not vote twice, 1,829 due to court orders, 525 failed to validate their records, 3 lost their Filipino citizenship, while 2 have lost eligibility because they have been convicted of serious law violations.
CALABARZON or Region 4-a has the highest number of deleted voters, followed by Central Luzon while the Cordillera Administrative Region has the lowest number of deleted voters.
COMELEC clarifies the guidelines on candidate substitution
In an interview with SMNI News, COMELEC clarified that although they will prohibit candidate substitution due to candidate withdrawal, the agency has not yet removed the policy on substitution.
“And besides, the COMELEC didn’t remove the right to withdraw and substitute. It’s still there so they can do it between October 1 and October 8. It’s still there, so it wasn’t removed,” according to Atty. Rex Laudiangco, Spokesperson, COMELEC.
In addition, Laudiangco emphasizes the purpose of COMELEC’s new guidelines on substitution.
“The purpose of that is for our fellow citizens to see the candidates early on. It can’t be politicized or used for other purposes because it will still go through the same process,” Laudiangco stated.
“Secondly, it streamlines the COMELEC preparation process. We can show who the candidates are early on. We can configure the machines early because their names are already there. Most importantly, we can print our ballots early,” Laudiangco added.
COMELEC still accepts new voter registration
Currently more than 2 million new voters have been registered for the 2025 midterm elections which is already close to COMELEC’s target of 3 million set by the poll body.
Applicants can still register from Monday to Saturday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., at any COMELEC office nationwide.
The registration started on February 12 and will end on September 30, 2024.
