Voter awareness of premature campaigning in barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections in the municipality of Pangil, Laguna

Premature campaigning or early campaigning beyond the lawful campaign period have been rampant nowadays. This might have been the easy ride for politicians to solicit votes to their constituents and banner their names as aspirants in upcoming elections. It is prevalent during National and Local Elections as court ruling suggests early campaigning became legal due to significant period between the filing of candidacy and campaign period. Awareness with premature campaigning and other electoral policies of voters affect their rational decisions on who to vote and which aspirant is suitable for the positions to be voted for. Comelec have formulated ways to combat premature campaigning in the However, there is still a need to provide a sharpened idea with regards to premature campaigning and how the rules and regulation applied to it must be implemented. To identify the knowledge in premature campaigning and its governing policies, the researcher conducted a study in voter awareness of premature campaigning regulation in Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections in the municipality of Pangil, Laguna. The researcher gathered data by random sampling of voters demographic profile, their level of awareness in relation to public policy with regards to premature campaigning. Differences of their awareness as grouped according to profile. Additionally, what initiative on policy formulation may be proposed. This resulted to moderate level of awareness when it comes to premature campaigning in Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections. Further, there is significant influence in age and employment status of voters indicating varying level of experience and engagement.