MANILA, Philippines - The number of voters who have yet to undergo biometrics registration is much smaller than the 9.7 million that the Social Weather Station (SWS) has reported, Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Andres Bautista said yesterday.
As of Aug. 30, a total of 3,130,377 voters still do not have biometrics data, and the total number of registered voters is 52,336,844 as of July 20, he told reporters.
“You may have a question regarding the SWS survey but these are our records... To be honest, we are unsure as to how the SWS came out with their numbers,” he said.
“I don’t know if it was the way the questions were asked or the methodology in respect to constructing the survey. These are our numbers.”
Based on the SWS survey taken from June 5 to 8, some 76 percent or 46.6 million registered voters had their biometrics taken and 16 percent of the respondent have not.
Metro Manila accounted for 27 percent of voters without biometrics; followed by Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao at 16, 17 and seven percent, respectively.
Under Republic Act 10367, the Mandatory Biometrics Registration Law, voters who do not have biometrics will not be able to vote in the May 2016 local and national polls.
The Comelec is currently holding a voter’s registration to end on Oct. 31.
When it started in May 2014, some 9.4 million voters did not have biometrics.
Comelec spokesman James Jimenez has reiterated calls for all registered voters to validate their registration to make sure that they already have their biometrics taken.
As the deadline for voter’s registration and validation approaches, “the lines at the Comelec offices are getting longer and longer,” thus making it “more challenging for people to register and validate their biometrics,” he said.
“To make things easier for everyone involved, the Comelec is asking everyone who needs to register or validate to do so at the earliest possible opportunity,” he said.
Jimenez has urged the public to make use of the iRehistro project of Comelec, wherein they can download and fill up registration form from its website and “avoid the hassle of having to wait in line just to be given an application form.”
The public was also advised to avail of the satellite registration in the malls near their homes as it will “allow you to see to your registration and validation needs in the relative comfort of a mall.”
As of today, only 45 days are left before the voter’s registration ends.
Up to five million voters stand to benefit if voting in malls in next year’s polls pushes through, Bautista said.
“The direction is we want to do this because as I said it will enhance the voting experience,” he said.
“The voters are the main constituents of Comelec and we are here to try to make the voting process as convenient and comfortable as possible for our voters.”
Yesterday, Bautista presented to reporters three prototypes of voting booths to be used in malls during elections.
To save money, the Comelec is looking at the possibility of allowing mall operators to make their own voting booths provided that they follow a Comelec-approved sample.
Comelec is expecting voter turn out to increase if elections are done in malls, Bautista said.
Voting in malls was conceptualized to increase accessibility to voting centers of vulnerable sectors like people with disabilities and senior citizens to create a more secure, convenient and comfortable voting environment.
The advantages of voting in malls include having clean, well-ventilated and orderly environment, enhanced security, power security, higher chances of transmission, larger space and enhanced privacy for voters.
Processes must be observed before the Comelec could hold voting in malls, Bautista said.
“We have to have hearings, we have to notify the voters and the political parties and a Comelec resolution has to be passed,” he said.
“We will be doing that. We are currently identifying which malls around the country will serve as voting centers.”
Polls will not be held in malls belonging to candidates like Star Malls, which are owned by the family of Sen. Cynthia Villar; Gateway and Ali Mall which are owned by the family of Manuel Roxas II, Bautista said.
They have checked the Statement of Contributions and Expenditures of candidates to determine if any of the mall owners have contributed to their campaign, he added.