This is a list of special elections in the Philippines. The Philippines holds two types of special elections: those that were supposed to be held on election day but were delayed, and those held after an office has become vacant. This article describes both types, with the ones arising from vacancies are also known outside the Philippines and the United States as "by-elections". This includes special elections to Congress and its predecessors—the Philippine Legislature, the National Assembly of the Philippines, the Commonwealth Congress, and the Batasang Pambansa—as well as to local legislatures and executive offices, if applicable.
Most special elections are for vacancies in Congress. The last special election of any sort was held in Cavite's 4th congressional district on August 29, 2026, to elect the successor of Kiko Barzaga who was expelled.
This also discusses elections due to delays, and had been more frequent before automation.
Arising due to vacancies
Procedure The following table is the evolution of law in regards to who, when and how special elections are called since 1907. +Implementing lawApplied fromElection called byAlloted timeProhibition on upcoming electionUpper houseLower houseUpper houseLower houseAct No. 15821907–1911Governor-General40 to 90 days from proclamation1 year before end of term Act No. 20451911–1936No prohibitionCommonwealth Act No. 211936–1947President20 to 90 days from proclamation10 months before end of termRepublic Act No. 1801947–1971President upon notification by CongressAs soon as possibleRepublic Act No. 63881947–1985Batas Pambansa Blg. 8811985–1987Commission on Elections—Up to 60 days from vacancy—18 months before next general electionRepublic Act No. 66451987–1991Commission on Elections upon notification by Congress45 to 90 days from date of resolution (House)Next scheduled election 1 year before next general electionRepublic Act No. 7166 1991–2025Hagedorn vs. House of Representatives et al.2025–presentCommission on Elections60 to 90 days from vacancy (House)
American era The Philippine Commission, by then the highest civil authority outside the Governor-General, in the Insular Government of the Philippine Islands, passed Act No. 1582 or the "Election Law" on January 9, 1907. It specifies that for any vacancies in the Philippine Assembly, it shall be determined by a special election set by the Governor-General that shall be not be less than 40 days, but not more than 90 days, from the date of proclamation.
For provincial officials, the Governor-General shall call for a special election. For municipal officials, if the office of municipal president is vacated, it shall be filled by the vice-president, if there is one. For other municipal officials, it shall be appointed by the provincial board.
The same law specified that once convened, the Philippine Assembly shall be the lower house of the bicameral Philippine Legislature, with the Philippine Commission being the upper house.
Act No. 2045, enacted by the Philippine Legislature on February 3, 1911, struck out the provision on the prohibition of filling up vacancies on the Philippine Assembly a year before its term ends.
The Tydings–McDuffie Act transformed the Insular Government to the Commonwealth of the Philippines. A constitution was then approved, replacing the Philippine Legislature with the unicameral National Assembly. In 1936, the National Assembly then passed Commonwealth Act (C.A.) No. 21 that governed special elections. It stated that vacancies that occur 10 months before the term expires shall have special elections. C.A. No. 357, or the Election Law passed in 1938, carried the same provisions as C.A. No 21., as far as vacancies to the National Assembly are concerned. As for a simultaneous permanent vacancy in the offices of president and vice president, the law puts the power to the National Assembly to call a special election, with an option to call an election only for the president.
In the 1935 constitution, it was silent on the procedure governing vacancies in the vice presidency once the vice president becomes president. During the 1935 constitution's usage, the vice presidency was left vacant in cases such as this.
Third Republic era The United States granted independence to the Philippines on July 4, 1946.
In Republic Act (RA) No. 180, or the Revised Election Code of 1947, if a vacancy in either chamber of Congress occurs at least 10 months or before a regular election, the president shall call a special election as soon as the chamber where the vacancy occurred of the existence of such vacancy notified him. RA No. 6388, or the Election Code of 1971, superseded RA 180 in 1971. but otherwise had identical provisions on special elections.
During the Third Republic era (1946–1972), special elections were held concurrently with the Senate midterm and local elections.
Fourth Republic era The 1973 constitution originally abolished the vice presidency. It was revived under a 1984 amendment, but an election was not immediately scheduled.
In Batas Pambansa Blg. 881, or the Omnibus Election Code of the Philippines, approved on December 3, 1985, in case of a vacancy in the Batasang Pambansa (National Parliament) 18 months or more before a regular election, the Commission on Elections shall call a special election to be held within sixty days after the vacancy occurs; in case parliament is dissolved, the President shall call an election which shall not be held earlier than forty-five nor later than sixty days from the date of such dissolution. Several weeks earlier, President Ferdinand Marcos ordered the Batasang Pambansa to call a special snap election a year prior to the regularly-schedule election. B.P. Blg. 883 called the special presidential election on the same day B.P. Blg. 881 was passed. Marcos was then ousted after the People Power Revolution when it was alleged he won that election via massive election fraud. The new government headed by President Corazon Aquino restored the presidential system with a bicameral Congress.
Fifth Republic era The constitution ratified in 1987 provided Congress to convene on the third day of the vacancy of both the presidency and vice presidency to enact a law calling for a special election for both offices, with the exception that no election will be called if the next scheduled election is 18 months away. If only one of the offices is vacant, the vice president becomes president, or the president appoints a member of Congress as vice president, with both chambers voting separately to confirm the appointment, as the case may be.
Later, as stipulated in R.A. No. 6645 approved on December 28, 1987, once a vacancy occurs in the Senate at least 18 months, or in the House of Representatives at least one year, before the next scheduled election, the Commission on Elections, upon receipt of a resolution from the chamber where the vacancy occurred, shall schedule a special election. The special election will then be held not earlier than 45 days nor later than 90 days from the date of the resolution.
However, R.A. No. 7166 approved on November 26, 1991, amended parts of R.A. No. 6645. When a vacancy in the House of Representatives occurs at least one year before the expiration of the term, the special election shall be held not earlier than 60 days nor later than 90 days after occurrence of the vacancy. For the Senate, if the vacancy occurs also at least one year before the expiration of the term, the special election shall be held on the day of the next succeeding regular election.
With the passage of Republic Act No. 8295 in 1997, if there is only one candidate running for the position, that candidate would be proclaimed as the winner, and an election would no longer be held. This is unlike in regularly scheduled elections where voting would still be held and the candidate has to get one vote in order to be elected. Since the enactment of this law, no special election has seen only one candidate.
In 2025, the Supreme Court ruled in Hagedorn vs. House of Representatives, et al. that the commission does not have to wait for a resolution from the House of Representatives, saying that R.A. No. 7166 repealed the provision of R.A. No. 6645 where the commission had to receive a resolution from the relevant chamber to schedule a special election. This stems from the fact that the COMELEC did not hold a special election at Palawan's 3rd district after its incumbent Edward Hagedorn died mid-term. Hagedorn's son Elroy John filed a petition to the Supreme Court due to the House of Representatives' nonaction.
As with general elections, special elections are usually scheduled on a Monday. Special elections held since the 15th Congress are mostly done on Saturdays. In some cases, election days are declared as holidays.
Lack of special elections In accordance with current laws, the decision to call a special election to fill permanent vacancies is not mandatory, and is solely at the discretion of Congress, which has received criticism for not quickly acting to fill such vacancies. Despite many vacancies occurring well before a year from the end of a congressional term, Congress has left many such seats unfilled. In more extreme examples some even remained vacant for two years or more:
Not all vacancies that occurred a year before the next regular election resulted in a special election. To save money, the Speaker appoints a caretaker representative from a nearby district. In same cases a caretaker representative was appointed while an election date was considered.
Since the country's independence in 1946, no special elections were called during the presidencies of Carlos P. Garcia, Corazon Aquino and Joseph Estrada; the 4th Congress, during the Garcia presidency, notably did not have deaths in the lower house. During the first half of the presidency of Diosdado Macapagal, and the latter half of the presidencies of Fidel V. Ramos and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, and from the beginning of the second presidential term of Ferdinand Marcos in 1969 until his removal from office in 1986, no special elections were called. During the presidency of Rodrigo Duterte, no special elections were ever held. In the first half of the presidency of Bongbong Marcos, at least one special election was called.
President and vice president The current constitution mandates Congress shall call for a special election if both the offices of president and vice president are vacant at the same time, and that the next regularly scheduled election is not more than 18 months away.
This provision of the constitution has never been tested.
Senate
Philippine Legislature (1916–1935) From 1917 to 1934, senators are elected via senatorial districts; a vacancy mid-term had been filled up by a special election. Leg.DistrictDatePredecessorPolitical partyCauseWinnerPolitical partyRetained?4th2ndMay 5, 1917Aquilino Calvo Appointed Mountain Province governorMatias Gonzales Yes5th3rdOctober 25, 1919Francisco Liongson Died in officeCeferino de Leon Yes6th 4thOctober 3, 1923Pedro Guevara Elected resident commissionerRamon J. Fernandez Yes7th3rdMarch 23, 1926 Santiago Lucero Died in officeLuis Morales Yes9th1926Tomas Gomez Died in officePastor Salazar Yes7thJuly 21, 1927Jose Ma. Arroyo Died in officeJose Ledesma Yes9th6th1931Juan B. Alegre Died in office José O. Vera No
Commonwealth Congress (1945–1946) No special elections were called for the Commonwealth Congress.