Comelec pitches ‘vote anywhere’ scheme

The Commission on Elections on Tuesday disclosed before members of the House of representatives its proposed pilot conduct of mall voting for the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections on october this year.

This comes as the poll body partnered with the House for the conduct of a two-day “register anywhere” on 25 and 26 January, the last schedule for the pilot-testing of the proposed new registration scheme for the october polls.

Present during the signing of the memorandum of understanding is Comelec chairman George Erwin Garcia and executive director Teopisto Elnas, as well as House Speaker Martin romualdez and Mountain Province Lone District representative Maximo Dalog Jr., the chair of the House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral reforms.

Garcia said that voting inside malls could be a reality if the pilot-testing of the “register anywhere” program has been successful.

Comelec data show that at least 7,555 Filipinos processed their voter data through the proposed registration scheme, including 4,405 new registrants, from 17 December 2022 to 22 January.

“If it could become successful, our intention is to conduct the ‘register anywhere’ project nationwide. This is just prepartory, because the Commission is already thinking, if we could register anywhere, why can’t we pilot-test mall voting for the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections?” Garcia said.

romualdez, on the other hand, expressed appreciation to the poll body for the conduct of “register anywhere” inside the House of representatives.