Fewer applicants seen in poll registration

Fewer applicants are likely to register for the coming May barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections, the poll body said.

This as the Commission on Elections (Comelec) prohibits the transfer of voters' registration.

“No application for transfer of registration records shall be field and be processed” reads the Comelec resolution dated October 24, 2017.

Lawyer Lionel Marco Castillano, Cebu Provincial Election supervisor, said the transfer of records would only cause disorder.

“Mao man gud na ang makalawgaw kay lalison pa. Ang mo-transfer ilabi na kadtong molansar manghakot og botante. Mao na ang commission in the exercise of its jurisdiction wala giapil ang transfer,” he said.

The registration for next year's elections starts on November 6 and ends on November 30 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Aside from weekdays, it also covers Saturdays, Sundays, including holidays.

The election officers can also conduct satellite or offsite voters' registration in their respective jurisdiction during that period.

Comelec set a 24-day voters' registration period for barangay and SK polls, including corrections of entries in the registration record, and reactivation of registration record.

On October 2, President Rodrigo Duterte signed a law postponing the barangay and SK elections for the second time.

Republic Act No. 10952 set the local elections to May 2018, with incumbent local officials ordered to remain in office. It was signed less than a month before the scheduled polls.

The polls had originally been scheduled for October 31, 2016, but these were moved to October 23, 2017 after Duterte said he wanted the elections deferred because of possible drug money funding the local politicians' campaigns.

It said the subsequent synchronized barangay and SK elections shall be held on the second Monday of May 2020 and every three years thereafter.

Based on Comelec Resolution No. 10214, “applications for registration, reactivation, change/correction of entries, and inclusion/ reinstatement or records in the list of voters shall be personally filed at the Office of the Election Officer.”

Castillano said the Comelec will finalize the voters' list in January 2018 yet as they will have to rebid the election paraphernalia following the postponement of elections.

“Mobalik baya mi og bidding sa tanan kay although gisugdan na to og bidding ba, wala man gyud ma-award because matechnical man kay ang purpose ato kay para man sa October nga elections. So, mao nga kinahanglan mag-rebid,” he said.

Also, he said the commission has set the Election Registration Board (ERB) hearing on the applications for registration in December.