Abstract:
Voter education seminars (VES) by the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) aim to
empower the youth by giving quality information about elections and voting, addressing declining
political participation, voter apathy, and political cynicism. Despite its implementation, the effects
of VES remain unexamined. This study investigates the impacts of COMELEC-conducted VES
on the political attitudes of youth voter-attendees, analyzing the dimensions identified by
Sindermann et al. (2021) and Weinschenk et al. (2021). These indicators include political
orientation/ideology, voting intentions, voting attitudes, and online political participation. Guided
by the Informed Social Engagement Model (ISEM), the study employs semi-structured in-depth
interviews with Metro Manila-based respondents who attended VES and participated in voting.
Findings reveal that VES had minimal impact on youth’s political attitudes. It deepened the
participants’ understanding of voting and participation yet, their voting preferences aligned with
their political ideology, were already anchored in firm beliefs. Furthermore, attendees expressed
desire for broader discussion of online political engagement. The respondents recognized the
insufficiency when it comes to the preparation, delivery, and approach. The researchers concluded
that COMELEC-funded voter education seminars have a lot of room for more improvement for it
to be considered impactful based on the influence that they would have imposed on the youthvoter
attendees and their political attitudes.
