Elections 2025: Guide on Voters Registration

CEBU CITY, Philippines – Registration for voter applications for the midterm elections next year has begun.

The voter registration is only for a limited time but the Commission on Elections (Comelec) vowed to accommodate as many aspiring voters. This is also why they implemented new strategies in increasing voter count such as the Register Anywhere Program (RAP).

READ MORE:

2025 Elections: Cebu logs 5,082 new applications – Comelec

Comelec Cebu partners with 2 universities for ‘Register Anywhere Program’

Registration for voter applications can be fast and easy as long as one has prepared the necessary documents before heading to any Comelec voter registration booth.

Here’s how.

Eligibility

For the midterm elections 2025, only regular voters are allowed to cast their ballots. To qualify, one must be Filipino who is at least 18 years of age on Election Day (May 12, 2025), a resident of the Philippines for at least a year, and in the place wherein he/she proposes to vote for at least six months immediately preceding the 2025 polls, and not otherwise disqualified by law, can register as a voter.

What to prepare

• Download and fill out CEF-1 form. Make sure to shade the circle beside the word Registration under the Type of Registration section. But leave the signature and thumb mark section at the bottom of the page blank. Voter applicants will only fill out these fields after election officers have secured their biometrics.
• Prepare any Valid ID: It is also important to note that Comelec does not accept company ID. Students can present their School IDs if they don’t have any valid IDs. Valid IDs include National ID, UMID/ SSS/ GSIS ID, Passport, Postal ID, Driver’s License, PRC ID, Senior Citizen ID, to name a few.

Registration

• Identify and go to the nearest Comelec office or satellite voter registration center. With RAP, however, voter registration booths are no longer limited to election offices and malls. Comelec is also eyeing to tap government offices, universities and other commercial establishments.
• Submit your filled Registration Form (CEF-1) and present your Valid ID before the election officers.
• After the election officer has verified all documents, the next step would be biometrics. Here, applicants then would fill out the signature part and place their thumb mark on the registration form.
• Once biometrics have been completed, the applicant will then be provided with an acknowledgement receipt.

For reactivation, transferees

• For voters who wish to reactivate their status or transfer their precincts, they will also have to follow the above-mentioned steps. However, under the field ‘Type of Application’, they need to shade the circles that says Reactivation or Transfer.

Period of registration

• Filipinos have until September 30, 2024 to submit their voters application.

RAP in Cebu

• Meanwhile, the Comelec here has revealed initial plans of opening two RAP sites to cater more applicants. These are the University of San Carlos (USC) Talamban Campus in Cebu City and the Cebu Doctors’ University (CDU) in Mandaue City.
• However, RAP will just be limited to the students, faculty, staff, and schools officials of the two universities due to ‘security reasons.’
• RAP sites in these two universities are expected to open this February 27.

With reports from Niña Mae Oliverio, Inquirer.net