Comelec gears up for ‘super election year’ 2025

With three elections on the horizon, 2025 will be a busy year for Filipino voters. The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has begun preparations for the so-called “super election year,” introducing new programs and policies for the conduct of the May midterm polls, the first-ever Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections (BEP), and the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE).

Here’s a rundown of what voters can expect for the 2025 elections.

New Automated Elections System (AES)

For Eleksyon 2025, the Comelec has veered away from long-time poll provider Smartmatic and awarded the P17.99-billion automated elections systems (AES) contract for the 2025 national and local elections (NLE) to South Korean firm Miru Systems Inc. 

The contract, which covers the procurement of the new AES, automated counting machines (ACMs), and peripherals such as ballot boxes and laptops, proceeded in February but it was not without controversies. 

Lawmakers and poll watchdogs including Democracy Watch Philippines raised concerns on the deal, citing Miru’s alleged "catastrophic failures" and "questioned" projects in Iraq and Democratic Republic of Congo. Miru has since denied the allegations. 

Under the new AES, Filipinos will use the ACMs to cast their ballots, replacing the vote counting machines (VCMs) used in the 2016 and 2019 elections. The ACMs are an upgraded version of the VCMs, featuring ballot scanning and direct recording electronic (DRE) capabilities. 

Other key features of the ACMs are:

• privacy screens
• touch screens allowing voters to review their votes through ballot images-on-screen
• smart card readers
• ballot feeders with auto-align feature
• voter receipt output trays
• cameras to scan the QR code on the vote receipt
• built-in voter’s receipt compartments
• batteries that can last up to 14 hours
• control switch and headphones for persons with disabilities (PWDs) and senior citizens

The Comelec likewise ditched the transparency servers for the 2025 May elections. Instead, it contracted the joint venture of iOne Resources, Inc. and Ardent Networks, Inc. for the Secure Electronic Transmission Services (SETs). 

Without the transparency servers, the election results go directly from the machines to telecommunications companies. The joint venture will reconcile the data before forwarding the results to separate servers for five citizens arms of the Comelec, the majority and minority parties, the municipal or city board of canvassers, media, and the poll body's national server.

Earlier this month, the Comelec kicked off a nationwide roadshow caravan to educate voters on how to use the ACMs. 

Early voting hours, mall voting 

Following the pilot test during the 2023 BSKE, the Comelec plans to expand the early voting hours and mall voting for the 2025 May polls, offering the public greater accessibility in casting their votes. 

The early voting hours policy will allow senior citizens, persons with disability, and pregnant women nationwide to vote exclusively between 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. Regular voting hours will proceed at  7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Meanwhile, the poll body is also looking into using malls as alternative voting sites for the 2025 NLE after a “very successful” pilot test in the 2023 BSKE. At least 11 malls participated in the pilot implementation. 

Internet voting

Filipino voters in 75 countries abroad will start casting their ballots through an internet-based voting system for the 2025 NLE. Under this system, voters no longer need to visit the consulate or embassy and may vote through their mobile devices, but they must register first.

For countries that do not allow internet voting, the Comelec said Filipinos may still go to embassies to cast their votes.

Voters list with photos

Meanwhile, faster voter verification is expected  for next year’s elections as the Comelec will start posting the list of voters and their photos outside of the polling precincts. 

The poll body received greenlight from the National Privacy Commission (NPC) for the policy in June.  However, the NPC urged the Comelec to implement measures ensuring the protection of voters’ data privacy. 

Posting of COCs, CONAs

The Comelec, for the first time, will also upload the certificates of candidacy (COC) and certificates of nomination and acceptance (CONAs) of the candidates for the 2025 NLE on their website. The initiative intends to promote greater transparency for the elections and to allow Filipinos to assess and, in some cases, question the qualifications and eligibility of the candidates, according to the poll body.

Social media registration

To combat misinformation, disinformation, and fake news, Comelec is mandating local and national candidates as well as party-list organizations to register their official social media accounts and pages, websites, podcasts, blogs, vlogs, and other online and internet-based campaign platforms with the poll body. 

Exempted from the policy are privately-owned accounts endorsing candidates, following concerns from the Makabayan bloc in the House of Representatives, saying it “might affect freedom of expression."

The Comelec will also regulate and prohibit the misuse of social media, artificial intelligence (AI), and internet for next year’s elections. 

Other resolutions the poll body is set to issue for the 2025 NLE including guidelines against gender-based discrimination, and red-tagging. 

Bangsamoro polls

The Comelec is also set to conduct the first-ever parliamentary elections in the Bangsamoro region in 2025. However, a Supreme Court (SC) ruling declared Sulu province was not part of the autonomous region, excluding it from participating in the parliamentary polls. 

The Bangsamoro government asked the high court to re-include Sulu in the region noting that the SC did not say that its ruling was “final and executory.”

The High Court denied the motions last month, saying their decision is “final and immediately executory,” and “no further pleadings will be entertained.” 

For its part, the Comelec moved the filing of COCs for the BARMM polls from October 1 to October 8 to November 4 to November 9, 2024 due to the SC decision. The poll body likewise adjusted the number of elective positions for the Bangsamoro parliament from 80 to 73.

Of the 73 posts, 40 were for regional political parties, 25 for parliamentary districts, and eight for sectoral organizations.

The Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), which was enacted into law on July 27, 2018, seeks to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) with BARMM, which will have an expanded land and water jurisdiction, fiscal autonomy, and increased share in national government resources, among others. 

In 2018, Sulu Governor Abdusakur Tan II questioned before the SC the legality of the BOL, arguing that  ARMM cannot be abolished without amending the Constitution. 

The Sulu province rejected the ratification of the BOL during the plebiscite in 2019. 

The Philippines will hold its midterm elections and Bangsamoro polls on May 12, 2025. Meanwhile, the BSKE will be conducted on December 2025. 

Latest data from Comelec showed there are more than 68 million voters for the 2025 NLE and BEP. — BM/RSJ, GMA Integrated News