More than 65.74 million Filipinos are expected to cast their votes on May 9 in the country’s first-ever national elections during a pandemic.
The total number of registered voters shows a 6.31% increase from the 2019 midterm polls, with more than half aged between 31 and 59 years old. One in three votes will be from the youth.
Scroll through this infographic to see who makes up the Filipino vote this year:
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) reminds voters that minimum public health standards, such as wearing of masks and physical distancing, still need to be observed, but vaccinations and negative RT-PCR tests are not required.
(See VERA FILES FACT CHECK: Vaccination cards, negative COVID-19 tests NOT required to vote in 2022 polls)
As the Philippines relaxed its guidelines in early March to Alert Level 1 in Metro Manila and 38 other areas, the Comelec announced on Feb. 28 that the use of face shields on election day will be voluntary. Rules on campaigning will remain the same, the poll body said.
(Read VERA FILES FACT SHEET: Campaigning during the COVID-19 pandemic)
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Sources
Personal Communication, Commission on Elections, Feb. 22, 2022
Commission on Elections, Press Briefing, Feb. 8, 2022
Commission on Elections, 2022 National and Local Elections Registered Overseas Voters, Feb. 28, 2022
Commission on Elections, May 13, 2019 Voter Turnout, Nov. 18, 2019
Commission on Elections, Press Briefing, Feb. 28, 2022
Presidential Communications Operations Office, NCR and 38 other areas to be under Alert Level 1 beginning March 1, Feb. 27, 2022
(Guided by the code of principles of the International Fact-Checking Network at Poynter, VERA Files tracks the false claims, flip-flops, misleading statements of public officials and figures, and debunks them with factual evidence. Find out more about this initiative and our methodology.)