MANILA - A new Social Weather Stations survey shows that 1 out of every 4 Filipinos are at risk of disenfranchisement for the 2016 elections.

Based on interviews with 1,200 people around the country, SWS reported 76 percent of the respondents are registered voters with validation. This represents the percentage of voters who will be allowed to vote in the 2016 elections. Another 16 percent of the respondents are registered but without validation while 8 percent are not registered at all.

The Commission on Elections, however, said that this is far from their current figures, where the number of registered voters who are not validated is now down to 3.2 million.

As of July 2015, there are already 52.3 million registered voters for the 2016 elections.

Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said that of these 3.2 million, a significant number are not expected to go to Comelec for validation.

"Sa 3.2 million na yun kasama na dun yung mga namatay na, yung mga lumipat na ng tirahan and hindi na nagparehistro ulit o lumipat na ng bansa, some of them may even be in jail," Jimenez told reporters.

The Comelec spokesman also questioned why the number of unregistered and unvalidated voters was a matter for an SWS survey, as anyone could just easily check their records.

"Whether or not a person can vote is determined by whether or not he is actually registered in the Comelec. It is not a matter of opinion," Jimenez said.

Since the start of the year, more voters have been encouraged to go to the Comelec offices for validation at the risk of being disenfranchised in the 2016 elections. The poll body noted a sharp decline of those without biometrics, decreasing from as high as 9 million voters last year to just 3.2 million by the end of the third quarter of 2015.