• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has deleted 113,776 voters in Negros Occidental, following a comprehensive review of the Election Registration Board during its hearing on Jan. 19.
Records showed that 109,864 voters were deleted for failure to participate in two consecutive elections while 3,239 already have died.
A total of 639 others have relocated to other areas while 31 were excluded in compliance with court orders.
Highly urbanized Bacolod City topped the list of 32 local government units in the province, having the most number of deleted voters at 20,495.
Provincial Election Supervisor Ian Lee Ananoria said on Wednesday, Jan. 28.
The regular purging of voters list is essential to prevent disenfranchisement and maintain public trust in the electoral processes.
He, however, said those who have been deactivated from the list may still reactivate their status through the ongoing registration for the 2026 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections, which will end this coming May 18.
In Negros Occidental, total registered voter count stands at 1,961,404.
Of this number, 931,275 are male and 1,009,129 are female, reflecting a slight majority of female voters in the province. | GB
