The Commission on Elections (Comelec) believes the number of new registrants for the December Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan polls will reach more than two million when voter registration ends.
Comelec Acting Spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco cited the high turnout of applicants in the ongoing voter registration as reason for this.
As of July 18, 2022, the Comelec said the total new registrants for both Barangay & SK was at 1,712,315 which is more than the initial targets for the Dec. 5, 2022 BSKE.
The total projected barangay voters (18 years old and above, including new registrants) is 66,053,357 while for SK (15-30 years old, including new registrants) 23,059,227.
"Given these latest high turn-out of applicants, we believe that by July 23, 2022, we will be able to reach our secondary/recalibrated total new registrants for both Barangay and SK of 2,067,351," said Laudiangco in a statement on Tuesday, July 19.
"This new figure, to be used for planning and pre-election preparatory activities, is largely based on the current estimates of the Philippine Statistics Authority that out of the projected 2023 Philippine Population of 112,892,781, those who will be of the voting age will total to 73,538,694," he added.
"We thank the Filipino people, especially the youth, for their continuing fervor for our Nation’s democratic processes and keen interest in the elections. We hope that we pursue patriotism in the exercise of our right to suffrage and continue our trust in governmental institutions," Laudiangco said.
As of July 19, there are already 1,913,386 new registrants nationwide.
Meanwhile, Laudiangco explained why the BSKE is not held simultaneously with the national and local polls.
"Under Sec. 38 of the Local Government Code, the barangay election shall be non-partisan and shall be conducted in an expeditious and inexpensive manner," he said.
"It will be very difficult to comply with the apolitical and non-partisan requirement for the BSKE if we are going to conduct it simultaneous with the NLE, which is very political and expensive in nature," added Laudiangco.