Comelec can only list 6,000 more voters

CEBU, Philippines - The Cebu City North and South District Comelec Offices said they can only accommodate of a maximum six thousand more registrants for the rest of the extension of registration.

This was the estimate of election assistant Bernard delos Reyes of the south district and north district election assistant Virgie Maranan.

Maranan said that their calculation is based on the last continuing registration where they can only accommodate 600 registrants a day.

The same with the Comelec south district since, according to Delos Reyes, they have only two Data Capturing Machines for the registration.

On the first day of the extended registration yesterday, there were only a few first-time applicants who came to the two Comelec offices in the city.

Comelec-7 regional director Ray Rene Boac, however, said that there were only around two thousand registrants in the city who failed to register.

Boac also based his estimate on the deadline of the continuing registration last October 31.

The regional director clarified that only first-time applicants will be entertained in the different Comelec offices in the country including Cebu City.

Boac referred as first time applicants those who are trying to apply for a registration who have no existing records in the Comelec.

“If they have no records in the Comelec, they are considered as first-time applicants and they will be allowed to accomplish the registration forms,” Boac said.

The regional director, however, said they noticed that only few first-time applicants have applied and registered yesterday in the city.

With this development, Boac reiterates his call to those new voters who have not registered yet to visit their respective Comelec offices.

“Mas maayo unta ug musayo-sayo sila ug pa-register kay lisod kaayo kung maghuot na usab sila atol sa deadline, dili na sab unya marehistro,” Boac stressed.

Those first time applicants who wish to register are advised to bring IDs or birth certificate to speed up the registration process.

The extended registration will continue today and tomorrow and will resume on December 28 and 29 to complete the five-day actual registration.

Voters in the said extended registration will be posted on January 4 and if there are complaints, the Comelec will accept the petitions on January 6.

The Election Registration Board will take up the petitions on January 9 and if the registrants won’t receive notices of denial, they can eventually vote on May 10, 2010 elections.

Cebu City has 2,938 established precincts and 560 clustered precincts in 70 voting centers based on the data from the City Comelec. — Elly Bolonos/BRP (THE FREEMAN)