Central Visayas logs over 43K new voters

Local

CENTRAL Visayas has so far recorded a total of 46,355 new registered voters as the ongoing registration drive of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) continues to post rising numbers across the region.

According to Comelec-7 Regional Director Francisco Pobe, registrations steadily increased in the recent weeks of the registration.

With turnout climbing daily as more applicants trooped to registration centers, in the region, registrations reached 1,398 applicants on Feb. 9, composed of 696 male and 702 female registrants.

Based on data from Pobe, the number rose to 1,734 on Feb. 10, before surging further to 2,627 on Feb.11.

A closer breakdown shows that Cebu accounted for most of the new registrants during the three-day period.

On Feb. 9, Cebu recorded 1,156 applicants, with 569 males and 587 females registering.

Registrations slightly dipped to 1,004 on Feb.10, composed of 507 males and 497 females, before sharply increasing to 2,307 applicants on February 11, including 1,089 males and 1,218 females.

Meanwhile, Bohol posted smaller but consistent numbers.

The province logged 242 registrants on Feb. 9, with 127 males and 115 females.

Registrations increased to 730 applicants on Feb. 10, made up of 352 males and 378 females, before dropping to 320 registrants on February 11, consisting of 153 males and 167 females.

Across the three days, female registrants slightly outnumbered male applicants, reflecting steady participation among women voters in the region.

Comelec monitoring further showed that registrations for the February 9–14 period have already reached 15,084 applicants, making it the highest weekly turnout recorded so far in the current registration cycle.

The continued rise in registration mirrors the region’s strong voter participation in recent elections.

For the last May 2025 elections, poll officials reported that Central Visayas recorded one of its highest voter turnouts in recent cycles, alongside minimal election-related incidents and smooth coordination among security and government agencies.

Records presented during the conference showed that voter participation in the region has steadily improved across the last three national elections.

In the 2019 midterm polls, about 79.75 percent of registered voters cast their ballots, with 3,944,864 voters participating out of 4,946,261 registered voters.

Turnout further increased during the 2022 presidential elections, when participation rose to 85.03 percent.

A total of 4,463,105 voters voted from 5,249,066 registered voters in Central Visayas.

The upward trend continued in the 2025 midterm elections, where turnout reached 86.52 percent, surpassing the poll body’s earlier projection of 75 to 80 percent participation.

Of the 4,389,344 registered voters in the region, 3,797,563 were able to cast their votes.

Election officials attributed the continued increase in turnout to intensified voter education campaigns, improved voting access measures, and innovations such as mall voting pilots in selected areas, which made participation more convenient for voters.

The poll body resumed voter registration nationwide in October last year and will continue accepting applications until May 18, 2026.

This allows new voters, transferees, and those seeking reactivation or corrections of records to register ahead of the next elections.

The schedule excludes the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Comelec Chairperson George Garcia earlier said the poll body expects more than one million applicants nationwide during the seven-month registration period.

“We believe we can reach 1.4 million registrants,” he said.(MyTVCebu)