THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday said it will hold voter registration activities in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) to avoid voter disenfranchisement.
In an interview, Comelec chairman George Garcia said they have reconsidered their initial plan to exclude BARMM from the resumption of voter registration activities nationwide from July 1 to 11 intended for the December 2025 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE).
“We have realized that that if we don’t conduct voter registration in the BARMM, we would effectively disenfranchise them,” said Garcia.
“Therefore, we decided, subject to approval of the Comelec en banc, to hold voter registration nationwide, including the BARMM, from July 1 to 11,” he added.
Foremost in their consideration, the poll chief explained, is the possible disenfranchisement of potential Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) aged 15 to 17 years old.
“We want to allow the 15 to 17 years old to get registered and vote in the SK elections. If they aren’t able to, our SK voters may only be those 18 years old and above,” he said.
The Comelec had earlier set the resumption of voter registration activities nationwide from July 1 to 11.
Voter registration, however, was supposed to remain suspended in the BARMM due to the scheduled Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections (BPE) on October 13.
Despite the turnaround, Garcia said the Comelec will still not allow new registrants to cast their votes during the BPE.
He said they are set to include a “coletilla” in their forthcoming resolution on the limitations of the voter registration in BARMM.
“As the law provides, the voters in the May 12 (midterm polls) must be the only ones that can vote in the October 13 BPE,” he said.
“Therefore, those who will get registered from July 1 to 11 in BARMM will still be unable to vote in the BPE,” he added.
