Comelec: No extension of voter registration

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has ruled out the possibility of extending the registration of voters for the May 2016 elections.

Those wanting to participate in next year’s elections were given enough time to register, Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista said over the weekend.

Bautista said there are six days remaining for the public to register and be able to vote in the coming elections.

“This will be the last week and there will be no more extension,” Bautista said while noting that the registration of voters started in May 2014 or more than a year ago.

He said, however, that the poll body is assessing the situation to determine if there is still a need to extend the registration period in areas severely affected by Typhoon Lando.

The Comelec chief urged the public to go out and take advantage of the remaining registration days instead of relying on the belief that the poll body will extend the listing.

“Basta magparehistro na lang po tayo agad dahil ilang araw na lang,” he said.

The Comelec earlier announced that it would go on a 12-hour, seven-day operation during the final week of voter registration.

The agency also formed 40 augmentation teams to accommodate the expected surge in number of registrants this week.

Voters’ registration centers are also available in several malls nationwide as well as in other establishments like gymnasiums, convention centers, schools, and town plazas.

Meanwhile, the Comelec reported that about six million registered voters have yet to claim their identification (ID) cards from the commission.

Bautista said a total of 5,969,072 voters have not claimed their IDs from local Comelec offices.

He said a voter’s ID is a valid identification card being recognized by all government offices and banks for a person’s identification purposes.

Comelec, however, stressed that a voter’s’ ID is not a requirement in voting in the May 2016 polls.

Poll officials in Southern Mindanao said at least 195,326 voters in the region still have no biometrics to allow them to vote.

The bulk of voters who have no biometrics come from Davao City with 126,873 while the rest are from the provinces of Davao del Sur, Davao del Norte, Davao Oriental, Compostela Valley and Davao Occidental. 

According to the Comelec Region XI office, there are 2.2 million voters in the region where only eight percent remained without the required biometrics. 

And in an effort to accommodate the more than 126,000 voters that still have to submit their biometrics, the Comelec set up satellite offices in major shopping malls here for voters from the three districts in Davao City.

Davao City voters have been trooping to the shopping malls, just days before the Oct. 31 deadline. – With Edith Regalado