Comelec asks deactivated voters to register anew

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is encouraging at least five million deactivated voters to apply for reactivation to be able to participate in the May 2025 midterm elections.

Comelec Chairman George Garcia said they are tapping the poll body’s citizens’ arms and other cause-oriented groups in encouraging the deactivated voters to register again before the registration period ends on Sept. 30.

Garcia noted that the Comelec has removed about six million names from the official list of registered voters.

A majority of those taken out of the list were deactivated voters.

According to Garcia, 66 million voters have registered for the 2025 midterm elections.

The Comelec is working to increase the figure to 70 million.

“But because of the number of deactivated voters, I think we cannot reach our target of 70 million voters,” Garcia said.

He noted that only 100,000 of the over five million deactivated voters have so far reactivated their status.