Mall voting nets 79% voter turnout

NEARLY 79 percent of registered voters participated in the Mall Voting Program during the May 12 midterm elections, according to the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

The program allowed voters to cast their ballots in select shopping malls, which Comelec said aimed to improve accessibility and convenience.

Data released by the Comelec showed that the Mall Voting Program saw 74,099 casting their votes out of the 94,027 registered voters, or a 78.8 percent voter turnout.

SM Malls, with 20 branches participating, had the highest voter turnout with 80.93 percent after 37,523 voters voted out of the 46,363 registered voters.

The three Megaworld Malls, meanwhile, had the second highest voter turnout at 79.55 percent, after 6,101 voters voted out of 7,669 registered voters.

With 17,648 voters out of the 23,027 registered voters casting their votes, the 13 Robinsons Malls had a 76.64 percent voter turnout.

Comelec data also showed that six participating independent malls on May 12 recorded a voter turnout of 75.60 percent, with 12,827 out of 16,968 registered voters casting their votes.

The six independent malls are Fora Mall Filinvest Tagaytay, NCCC Mall, Ayala Malls Legazpi, KCC Mall de Zamboanga, Ayala Malls Centrio, and Limketkai Center.

The May 2025 national and local polls are the first electoral exercise in the country in which mall voting has been institutionalized. (Anton Banal/SunStar Philippines)