BARMM amends election law amid warning of further vote delays

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The interim BARMM Parliament also removes the contentious 'none-of-the-above' or NOTA option from ballots

COTABATO CITY, Philippines – The Bangsamoro Parliament on Wednesday night, January 28, approved amendments to the autonomous region’s 2023 election code, changes that a watchdog had warned could further delay the parliamentary elections in the Muslim-majority territory.

The legislature passed Parliament Bill No. 419 on its third and final reading, revising the Bangsamoro Electoral Code to allow smaller political parties to win seats in the regional parliament and strengthening sectoral representation.

Members of the interim Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) also removed the contentious “none-of-the-above” (NOTA) option from ballots, which would have allowed voters to reject all candidates but could have complicated vote counting and delayed results in the region’s first parliamentary elections.

The measure lowers the electoral threshold from 4% to 2.5%, allowing smaller parties to secure seats with a smaller share of the vote and preventing larger, well-funded political machineries from dominating the polls in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). It also reduces the membership requirement for registering a regional political party from 10,000 to 5,000 members.

The amendments were approved despite a warning from election watchdog Legal Network for Truthful Elections (LENTE) on January 23, which cautioned that altering the electoral code could trigger another postponement of the region’s long-delayed parliamentary elections. 

LENTE expressed concern that the changes would require updates to ballots, election software, and personnel training, which could disrupt preparations and further delay the polls.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) announced on Wednesday, January 28, the postponement of the first regional parliamentary elections in BARMM, scheduled for March 30, until Congress sets a new date. 

The region’s elections have been repeatedly delayed since the Duterte administration: once in 2022, twice in 2025, and once so far this year. 

A bill has been filed in the House of Representatives seeking to hold the BARMM elections this September.

“These amendments are safeguards to protect the democracy we are building for tomorrow,” the bill’s authors said in an explanatory note, warning that a high threshold risked “relegating community-rooted parties to the sidelines.” 

Its authors include BTA members Rasol Mitmug Jr., Baintan Ampatuan, and Ishak Mastura, among others.

They said the amended code also advances gender representation, requiring political parties to include at least 30% women in their list of nominees, and streamlines the certification process for sectoral representatives from non-Moro indigenous peoples, settler communities, women and youth, traditional leaders, and the ulama. 

BARMM ministries and offices must complete certification within 15 days to prevent delays in sectoral participation, they said.

The BARMM election law provides 80 seats in the regional parliament, half of which have been reserved for winning regional political parties. Thirty-two others are reserved for individual candidates to be elected in the region’s various parliamentary districts, while the remaining eight are for sectoral representatives. – Rappler.com