Comelec to resume voter registration for 2026 BSKE in BARMM this month

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will resume voter registration for the 2026 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE) in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) this month.

Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia on Thursday said the move followed the suspension of the inaugural Bangsamoro parliamentary elections originally scheduled for March 30, 2026.

"Kami ay magkakaroon muli ng voters registration sa buong Bangsamoro ngayong February at tatagal ito hanggang March 30 para may makaboto sa November 2," he said.

(The voter registration in BARMM will resume in February and will run until March 30 so residents can vote in the November 2 elections.)

The Comelec earlier resumed nationwide voter registration for the 2026 BSKE from October 20, 2025 until May 18, 2026. However, the Bangsamoro region was exempted from the registration following the suspension of the region’s first parliamentary polls.

Garcia said the exemption was imposed to prevent confusion among voters.

"Sa kasalukuyan suspended ang voters’ registration sa Bangsamoro. Ang kadahilanan ay dahil kung natuloy ang March 30, ayaw namin ma-complicate dahil yung existing na batas ay nagsasabi na ang BPE ay pagpapatuloy ng national and local elections noong Mayo. Nangangahulugan na kung sino ang botante noong May 12, 2025 ay siya rin ang botante sa BPE," he said.

(The voter registration in BARMM was suspended because Comelec wanted to avoid complications if the March 30 polls pushed through. Existing law states that the Bangsamoro parliamentary elections serve as a continuation of the May 2025 national and local elections, meaning those who were registered voters in the 2025 midterm polls would also vote in the BPE.)

"Hindi natuloy ang March 30 kaya kailangan naming i-lift ang suspension," he added.

(The March 30 elections were postponed, so we need to lift the suspension.)

Last month, the Comelec announced it had reached its target of registering at least 1.4 million new voters for the 2026 BSKE, three months after voter registration resumed nationwide.

In August 2025, President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. signed into law a measure postponing the BSKE from December 1, 2025 to the first Monday of November 2026 and every four years thereafter. —VAL, GMA Integrated News