Election board to convene on Nov. 19

CEBU, Philippines - The Election Registration Board will convene on November 19 to deliberate the application for voter’s registration in different towns and cities.

Cebu Provincial Election Supervisor Lionel Marco Castillano explained there is a possibility that some of those who registered will not be included in the final list of voters.

Castillano said the ERB hearing will run for five days.

It will be composed of the election officer, who will sit as the chairman of the board, the highest ranking Department of Education official of the place and the local civil registrar.

The list applicants will be posted before November 12 in the Comelec offices and in the city or municipal halls.

This day is also the deadline for those concerned parties to submit their opposition to applicants who are not from the place.

Castillano said those who registered are not yet considered registered voters unless there is no opposition to their application.

Those whose application for registration are questioned as well as those who filed the opposition have to appear during the ERB hearing to present their evidence that would prove their stand.

The three members of the ERB will then decide whether the application will be approved or not.

“We will call the parties who submitted the opposition and the concerned applicant to attend on November 19. They can bring their own lawyer and during the hearing, we will see if they are really residents of the place six months prior to the election,” said Castillano.

Castillano said that those who need to appear before the ERB will receive a subpoena.

Those who will not receive a subpuena can conclude that their application for registration is approved.

After the ERB hearing, the COMELEC will then finalize the list of voters of a city or municipality.

In Cebu City, the north district has a total of 241,387 approved voters registration while about 5,000 are still subject for deliberation.

In the south district, there are 290,030 approved registered voters and some 11,359 are subject for approval.

After the finalization of the list of voters, the COMELEC will then make the project of precincts wherein the number of voters per precinct will be determined as well as the number of registered voters and the total number of precincts in a city or municipality.

Then, they will wait for a memorandum from the COMELEC head office for the clustering of precincts. —  (FREEMAN)