The Commission on Elections (Comelec) announced Thursday that it will resume voter registration for the 2026 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) within the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) starting this February.
The move follows the recent postponement of the inaugural Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections (BPE), which were originally scheduled for March 30, 2026.
Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia stated that the registration period in the region will run from February until March 30, 2026. The extension is intended to ensure that residents can participate in the BSKE, which is scheduled for November 2, 2026.
“We will have voter registration again throughout Bangsamoro this February until March 30 so that people can vote on November 2,” Garcia said in Filipino.
Previously, BARMM was exempted from the nationwide registration period that began on October 20, 2025.
This exemption was implemented to avoid legal and operational confusion, as the law originally dictated that the March 2026 BPE would use the same voter list as the May 2025 midterm elections.
With the March 30 parliamentary polls now deferred, Garcia explained that the legal barrier to registration has been removed. “The March 30 elections did not push through, so we need to lift the suspension [on registration],” he added.
The BSKE was rescheduled to November 2026 after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed a law last year moving the polls from their original December 2025 date.
As of last month, the Comelec reported it had already surpassed its national target of 1.4 million new registered voters for the 2026 village and youth elections.
