MANILA, Philippines — An official of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has appealed to the youth to apply for voter registration for the May 2022 national and local polls.
Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon said they are targeting three million 18-year-olds before the voter registration ends on Sept. 30.
“We beg you dear children who are 18 years old, do get registered with the Comelec,” Guanzon said in a post on Twitter.
She said the turnout of registrants is low, citing the case in Metro Manila, where only 260,000 of the target 462,499 new voters have registered.
In Western Visayas, there were only 112,000 registrants of the target 314,320.
In Eastern Visayas, the target is 323,000 youth registrants but only 130,000 have signed up.
“Regional election directors of the Comelec, wake up. We need to register three million 18-year-olds before Sept. 30,” Guanzon said.
She clarified that those who registered for the Sangguniang Kabataan elections need not apply.