Comelec: No extension of voters' registration

DUMAGUETE CITY, Philippines – The Comelec in Negros Oriental has announced that there will be no extension in the registration of voters with the deadline set for October 31 this year.

Provincial Election Supervisor Eddie Aba explained that this is because the National Printing Office has to start early the printing of ballots to be used for the mid-term elections next year.

Also, the Comelec in the rural and provincial areas are expected to submit their list of clustered precincts immediately after the Oct. 31st deadline for the printing of ballots for use with the PCOS (Precinct Count Optical Scan) machines for the May 2013 elections.

Aba said the Comelec has been giving enough time for the voters to register considering that they had started the registration period several months ago, even during Saturdays and holidays.

He admited though that there was a brief interruption in the ongoing voters’ registration in Negros Oriental after at least a dozen election officers and assistants, to include himself, were deployed to the special polls in the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) last July 5 to 31.

Aba said they are still experiencing a hangover from that tremendous and nightmare experience in the Lanao del Sur assignment.

In a related development, Aba disclosed they are expecting a substantial increase of about 10 percent in the number of registered voters this year compared to the 2010 polls. The provincial Comelec office has been eyeing at least 800,000 registered voters than the 700,000 in the last polls.

Aba further announced that during the filing of certificates of candidacies from October 1 to 5, the Comelec will be suspending the registration of voters to avoid confusion on what he anticipates to be “festive” days in the different towns and cities. Registration will resume on October 6, he said. – THE FREEMAN