Comelec logs over 7.22 million deactivated voters
MANILA, Philippines — Over 7.229 million voter registrations have been deactivated after failing to participate in the last two elections, the Commission on Elections reported.
Comelec is also calling on the relatives of deceased voters to report their deaths so their registration could be canceled.
In a briefing on Thursday, the poll body gave updates on voter registration for the upcoming May polls. The data provided was based on Comelec data from August 2019 to end-October last year.
Comelec said it logged 6.95 new registered voters. Meanwhile, 763,729 voters had their registrations reactivated and 213,918 had theirs reactivated with corrected entries.
“Ganyan kadami ang gustong bumoto sa darating na eleksyon na dalawang beses nang hindi bumuboto sa dalawang magkasunod na eleksyon,” Comelec Commissioner George Garcia said.
(That’s how many of those who haven’t voted in the previous two elections want to participate in the upcoming polls.)
‘Report deaths of voters you know’
The poll body canceled the registration of 755,769 deceased voters. Comelec is calling on relatives of the recently departed to report the death to the commission.
“Kung ‘yung mismong pamilya naman ay nagbigay ng certification mula sa civil registrar na namatay talaga ‘yung kaanak [nila], sure po na tatanggalin ‘yun ng local Comelec natin. Hindi na maghihintay ng certification mula sa civil registrar nila kasi nagbigay na ng death certificate ‘yung pamilya,” Garcia said.
(If the family itself gives a certification from the civil registrar that [their] relative actually died, our local Comelec will surely remove their record. They will no longer wait for certification from their civil registrar because the family has already issued a death certificate.)
Comelec said it might have missed some registered voters who died of COVID-19, especially those whose deaths occurred outside their hometowns.
The poll body said it usually waits for the civil registrar to issue a certification about the death of a person. However, Garcia said it becomes a problem if, for example, a man from Nueva Ecija dies in Manila.
“We do not expect the civil registrar of Manila to issue a certification addressed to the election officer of Nueva Ecija [about the death],” Garcia said.
Garcia said the poll body had asked the Philippine Statistics Authority if it could send Comelec data on nationwide deaths to Comelec’s main office. The poll body will then send the names to its local offices.
However, the idea was put on the backburner because Comelec could not afford the cost of the proposal.
“May bayad po silang i-cha-charge sa amin. Hindi ko nalang po babanggitin ‘yung bayad, medyo malaki, wala pong budget ang commission sa ganoon so it will require legislation,” Garcia said.
(They will charge us a fee. I will not mention how much, it is quite expensive, the commission does not have budget for that so it will require legislation.)
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