Sun.Star Pampanga

Ongoing voter registrati­on for the 2019 elections: What you need to know

- BY ERIKA MARIEL B. GINES erika_gines@icloud .com What to do: What to remember: For Returning Voters Change of Residence Deactivate­d Status

ICOMELEC office and the time you go, registrati­on can take from half an hour to half a day or more. Wear light and comfy clothes and shoes so that you can be on-the-go.

As a first-time voter, you are required to appear personally at the Office of the Election Officer. Your identity will be verified with your valid ID, then the election officer will check their database to check if you have any previous voter records.

After your identity has been successful­ly verified, you will be asked to fill up three copies of the applicatio­n form. Your biometrics and photo will then be digitally captured.

Make sure to ask for a copy of your acknowledg­ement receipt, which will prove you are a registered voter. And this year, don't expect to be issued a voter's ID—with the approval of the National Identifica­tion System Bill (which seeks to use only one ID for all government transactio­ns), the COMELEC has currently put on hold the creation and distributi­on of voter's ID cards. Take note though: The voter's ID is not a requiremen­t for voting.

According to Section 4 of R.A No. 8189, a qualified voter only needs to register once. Your status as a voter is considered permanent, save for the following situations:

If you moved to a new place anytime after the last election, you will need to visit your local COMELEC office and file an Applicatio­n for Transfer if your assigned precinct has changed.

If your registrati­on record has been deactivate­d, you may have failed to vote in two successive regular elections. A deactivate­d status can also be because you were imprisoned for more than one year, declared insane by the authoritie­s, or convicted of any crime against national security and of disloyalty to the government. In these cases, you may apply for a Reactivati­on of Registrati­on Record at your local COMELEC office.

t’s finally the time of the year again when we, as responsibl­e young Filipino citizens, can spark change by voting the right leaders. And in case you missed it, voter registrati­on for the 2019 national elections is only until September 29—leaving you with roughly twoand-a-half weeks to file your applicatio­n.

If your current registrati­on record has typos or errors, sadly you'll need to go back to the COMELEC office to correct them in order to vote. You may file an Applicatio­n for Change/ Correction of Entries—this applies as well for recently married females who have changed their surnames.

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