The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is looking at the nullification of the national voters’ list to eliminate ghost voters and multiple registrants. Comelec Chairman George Garcia has called on legislators to annul the entire list, including overseas voters, to start with a clean slate and improve the existing system.
Garcia expressed concerns about verifying the identities of voters, considering that the list is already two decades old. He highlighted the difficulty of cross-checking fingerprints against the 68 million records in the system.
By annulling the voter list and conducting a general registration of voters in preparation for the 2028 elections, Garcia explained that the Comelec’s database would be updated. The current system has been successful in detecting and deleting 415,433 multiple registrants, with the National Capital Region accounting for most cases.
However, Garcia emphasized the need to change the Commission’s database and void the voter list. He proposed a four-day voter registration period to reset the system in preparation for the 2028 elections. Implementing this requires the passage of a law and budget approval from Congress.
The Comelec is also exploring internet voting to engage up to four million overseas Filipinos in the 2025 national elections. Garcia stated that the adoption of internet voting could significantly increase the number of registered overseas voters. Recognizing the popularity of the internet and texting among Filipinos, the Comelec aims to leverage technology to facilitate voting rights for Filipinos abroad.
To encourage participation, the Commission conducted an internet voting demonstration and hopes for increased involvement from technology providers and suppliers in the bidding and other processes of the electoral body.
