THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) has approved the 15 percent shading threshold on the ballot in the May 2025 National and Local Elections (NLE), the lowest since the 2010 polls.

Comelec chairman George Garcia said in a statement on Saturday that the lowering of the shading threshold of the oval from 25 percent was recommended by the Project Management Office (PMO).

Garcia said the recommendation was approved by the Commission en banc.

"Comelec en banc was satisfied sa mga naging explanation bakit 15 percent.... Therefore, for the election of 2025, ang threshold natin ay 15 percent (The Comelec en banc was satisfied with the explanation why 15 percent... therefore, for the election of 2025, our threshold is 15 percent)," he said.

Garcia urged candidates to help Comelec in educating the electorate on how to accomplish the ballot once the campaign period begins.

"We are encouraging all the candidates, the political parties, iikot naman sila, mangangampanya, siguro magandang maisama sa pangangampanya nila 'yung voter's education (they will go around anyway to campaign; it would be good for them to include voter's education in their campaign)," he said.

In the 2022 and 2019 polls, the threshold adopted was at 25 percent, while in 2016 and 2013, it was at 50 percent.

The threshold used in the 2010 elections, the first electoral exercise of the country to use the automated election system, was 20 percent.

The campaign period for national candidates (senator and party-list group) will start on Feb. 11 next year and for the local posts (members of the House of Representatives, parliamentary, provincial, city, and municipal officials), March 28.

The campaign period will run until May 10, 2025.