The Commission on Elections is deactivating thousands of voters in Negros Occidental and Bacolod City, primarily due to their failure to vote in the last two consecutive regular elections, a COMELEC official said on Thursday, Jan. 22.
The local Election Registration Boards (ERB) are automatically deactivating voters for skipping the last two polls, Negros Occidental Provincial Election Supervisor Ian Lee Ananoria said.
Ananoria said he will have the total number of deactivated voters from the ERBs in the towns and cities of Negros Occidental by next week, which will be in the thousands.
Ananoria added that those who have been deactivated can still reactivate their status through the ongoing registration for the 2026 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections, which runs until May 18.
In Bacolod City, Election Officer Kathrina Trinio-Caña reported that approximately 20,000 voters are being deactivated for failing to vote in two consecutive elections.
She said the COMELEC will also delete deceased voters from the list based on the ongoing Election Registration Board hearings.
To keep the public informed, the COMELEC will send out notices and post the lists of deactivated voters in each barangay, Trinio-Caña said.
Voter registration in Bacolod will continue at Ayala Malls Capitol Central until January 23. The process will then return to the COMELEC office at the BAYS Center from January 26 to 28, before moving back to Ayala Malls on January 29 and 30.
There are 72,446 Negros Island Region residents who have registered to vote from October 20, 2025 to Jan. 17 this year, the COMELEC reported on Wednesday.
Negros Occidental had the most number of registrants at 49,2676 followed by 22,190 in Negros Oriental and 989 in Siquijor, the Comelec report said.*