Comelec launches per-district registration to raise voter turnout

By Rjay Zuriaga Castor

The Commission on Elections in Iloilo City will conduct per-district voter registration drives to boost voter turnout for the 2026 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections.

“Our target is to bring the registration closer to the public, such as the senior citizens, PWDs, and other vulnerable sectors, so that they would not have a hard time. At the same time, we also want to bring it closer to the youth,” said Jonathan Sayno, assistant officer II of Comelec–Iloilo City.

The Comelec resumed voter registration on October 20 at Robinsons Mall in Jaro and will hold its next off-site registration at the Barangay Hall of MH del Pilar in Don Francisco Village on October 25.

Sayno clarified that the Comelec–Iloilo City office is not accepting walk-in registrants due to limited space.

He added that the office is targeting an increase in registrants aged 15 to 17 years old.

Comelec–Iloilo City aims to register more than 20,000 new voters, adding to the current 230,000 registered voters as of August this year.

Sayno said they are also implementing the Register Anywhere Program, which allows Filipinos to register outside their home localities.

The program helps individuals who cannot travel back to their provinces during the regular registration period.

Accepted applications include new registration, change of name or civil status, correction of entries, reactivation of records, and transfer from overseas to local registration.

On October 20, Comelec–Iloilo City processed 281 applications for new registration, transfers within and from outside the city, reactivation, correction of entries, and through the Register Anywhere Program.

All applications will be subject to approval or disapproval by the Election Registration Board on January 19, 2026.

The Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections are set for November 2, 2026, following their postponement from December 1, 2025, under a law signed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.