THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) has tapped the facilities of 62 shopping malls around the country instead of public schools as voting centers in all three elections scheduled this year.

Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia said the poll body signed a memorandum of agreement for the mall voting program and a contract with the telecommunication companies for the 2025 polls.

Garcia said 2025 is a "super election year" because Comelec would be handling three elections — the national and local polls 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 signed the MOA with the three biggest mall operators in the country, SM Supermalls, Megaworld Lifestyle Malls, and Robinsons Malls.

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

The innovations earned for the Comelec four international awards, besting all other election management bodies elsewhere in the world.

"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," Garcia said.

He said the mall voting program benefits both Comelec and the shopping malls.

It 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 said. "We will not be successful in our business if our democracy is in shambles."

Under mall voting, 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 mall voting was pilot-tested during the Oct. 30, 2023 barangay and village elections in 11 malls in Metro Manila, Legazpi City and Cebu City.

The first-ever mall voting had a high voter turnout for both barangay and SK elections.

Garcia said 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.

"Let's abandon the schools as polling places. It's high time that we find other places provided they are free of charge," Garcia said.