The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has denied claims that 17 million individual voters overvoted during the 2025 midterm elections, saying the figure was misunderstood and misrepresented.
In a statement, the poll body explained that the 17 million “overvotes” cited pertain to the total number of excess senatorial votes cast, not the number of people who committed the error. Since each voter could select up to 12 candidates for senator, multiple overvotes can be counted per ballot if a voter exceeds the limit.
“Because of this, the 17 million ‘overvotes’ need to be divided among 12 to get the actual overvote incidents,” Comelec clarified in Filipino.
Comelec Chair George Erwin Garcia provided further context, saying that only around 1.3 million of the 57 million voters actually overvoted in the senatorial race. He stressed that the overvotes refer to votes that went beyond the allowable 12, and not to entire ballots or voters.
His remarks came after former commissioner Rowena Guanzon questioned the 17 million figure, citing data from poll watchdog NAMFREL.
Garcia also emphasized that overvoting in one section of the ballot, such as for senators, does not impact the validity of votes cast for other positions.
Despite the confusion, the 2025 midterms saw a historic voter turnout, with 82.20 percent or 57.3 million out of 69.6 million registered voters participating in the polls.
The 12 new senators were officially proclaimed on May 17, followed by the proclamation of party-list winners on May 19, both held at the Manila Hotel Tent City.
