INTRAMUROS, Manila — In signing a memorandum of agreement (MoA) for the mall voting program and contract with telecommunication companies for the upcoming 2025 midterm elections, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has announced that it is tapping the facilities of 62 shopping malls around the country instead of public schools as voting centers in all three elections scheduled this year.

In a statement, Comelec chairperson George Erwin Garcia dubbed year 2025 as a "super election year" because they would be handling three elections—the national and local elections (NLE) in May, the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) parliamentary elections in October and the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) in December.

Garcia disclosed that they signed the MoA with the three biggest mall operators in the country, namely the SM Supermalls owned by Sys, Megaworld Lifestyle Malls of Andrew Tan and Robinsons Malls of John Gokongwei.

"We are uplifting the voting experience of our voters through other innovations. We have to improve democracy through the use of modern technology," the poll chief enthused.

"This is the best time to call a friend. The best time to energize our support system. This is the best time to call on the private sector," he added.

Garcia asserted that the mall voting program benefits both Comelec and the shopping malls even as the agreement would not entail additional cost for the Comelec because mall facilities would be provided free of charge, and it reduces the incidence of vote buying or violence.

"This is maybe a symbiotic relationship. This is maybe a commercial on the part of the malls but take note, this is of higher, higher national interest for all of us here. It is of the highest interest that there be clean and honest elections," Garcia noted.

Under mall voting program, only voters in barangay precincts located around the five selected malls would be allowed to vote. The precincts were chosen after consultations with political parties and other election stakeholders.

The first-ever mall voting, which significantly recorded a high voter turnout for both the barangay and SK elections,
was pilot-tested on October 30, 2023 in 11 malls in Metro Manila, Legazpi City and Cebu City.

In ending, the Comelec chief cited that during his tour of voting centers during the 2023 BSKE elections, he noticed that while the majority of the voters were sweating it out in cramped classrooms, mall voters were relaxed under an air-conditioned environment hence his decision to abandon schools as polling places.

"It's high time that we find other places provided they are free of charge," Garcia concluded.