Comelec sets 10-day BSKE listup period

First-time and deactivated voters only have 10 days to register for the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE), the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said Thursday.

In a media roundtable with the Philippine Daily Inquirer and Inquirer.net, Comelec Chair George Garcia said the poll body plans to hold the registration for the Dec. 1 BSKE either in July or August.

This is much shorter than the six-month registration period given to voters in the Oct. 30, 2023 BSKE, which ran from November 2022 to May 2023.

The short registration period is due to Comelec handling three elections this year: the national and local elections (NLE) on May 12, the first-ever Bangsamoro parliamentary polls on Oct. 13 and the BSKE on Dec. 1.

At least 1.2 million Filipinos, age 15 to 18 years old are expected to register for the BSKE and will be added to the 68.43 million existing voters.

Hard-pressed for time

The registration period is also time for deactivated voters, or those who failed to vote during the Oct. 30, 2023 BSKE and the May 12, 2025 NLE, to reactivate their registration status.

“We expect lines to be long, so we need to set up satellite registration centers or conduct the activity closer to people to accommodate those who will register,” Garcia said.

The Comelec was worried that many registrants, especially those age 15 to 17 who are in the middle of classes on weekdays, may be disenfranchised. Those age 15 to 17 will vote exclusively for SK chair and councilors.

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Garcia said they are hard-pressed for time with only six months to prepare for the barangay and SK polls after the midterm elections in May.

“Voter registration takes time to be finalized. After the voter registration period, the Election Registration Boards need to conduct hearings to verify those who register and to purge the list of deactivated voters. The Comelec also needs time to hear petitions for the inclusion or exclusion of their names from the final list of registered voters,” he added.

Comelec officials would have to discuss later whether to extend the 10-day registration period.