LOOK: In preparation for the 12 May midterm elections, electoral board members and technical staff from the Department of Education Supervising Officials (DESO) conducted the final testing and sealing of vote counting machines and other election materials at a school in San Andres Bukid, Manila, on Monday, 5 May 2025. The process was closely observed by poll watchers to uphold transparency and ensure the integrity of the upcoming polls.  John Carlo Magallon
NATION

Comelec says 1.3M Pinoys overvoted this midterm polls

Gabriela Baron

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said over one million Filipinos overvoted in the 2025 midterm elections.

In an ambush interview, Comelec Chairperson George Garcia noted that about 1.3 million Filipinos overvoted based on the vote tallies of senatorial candidates in the Magic 12.

According to Garcia, this represents around two percent of the total voter turnout.

"It's relatively low and unavoidable, it could not be stopped. Even I, when I was voting, I had to count those I voted for, good thing it was exactly 12," he said.

"We also had a lot of fellow Filipinos who overvoted. And those who overvoted, their votes could not be counted, but those who undervoted, their votes could be counted," Garcia clarified.

Comelec recorded an all-time high voter turnout of 82.2 percent in the 2025 national and local elections, with 57.35 million voters participating out of the 69.67 million registered Filipinos.