MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections is close to meeting its target of registering over 60 million voters for the upcoming 2022 elections, a commissioner said Friday, but this still leaves some 14 million qualified voters unregistered.
Sen. Francis Pangilinan, citing data from the Philippine Statistics Authority, in February said around 73 million voters are qualified to participate in the 2022 elections. He urged Comelec to extend its registration period, which will end on September 30, to accommodate the millions of voters who are still unregistered.
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"As of April... we have around 59 million voters registered," Comelec Commissioner Antonio Kho Jr. said partially in Filipino during a briefing aired over state-run PTV.
Kho said Comelec expects to register over 60 million voters in the coming months, adding that the commission is "intensifying" its registration campaign through "iRehistro" where applicants can download their application forms and satellite registrations.
Applicants who accomplish their forms through the iRehistro site will still have to go to a Comelec office for their biometrics.
Kho recalled that there were more than 61.8 million voters in the 2019 elections but seven million were deactivated, mostly due to failure to vote twice.
— Bella Perez-Rubio