Comelec: No extension of voters’ registration

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will no longer extend the voters’ registration for the 2018 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections.

Lawyer Ferdinand Gujilde, Cebu Provincial Election officer, said the ongoing voters’ registration is set to end tomorrow, which falls on a regular non-working holiday in commemoration of 154th birth anniversary of “the great plebeian,” Andres Bonifacio.

Gujilde said there are no discussions of extending the voters’ registration for next year’s polls, which began last November 6.

“At the rate sa turn out sa registration, mura og wala ta’y nakita nga mga dagkong build up sa mga tawo. Wala ta’y nakitang rason nga i-extend,” he said.

The Voter’s Registration Act of 1996 prohibits registration to be conducted 120 days before a regular election and 90 days before a special election.

Applications may be filed from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., including holidays. The Comelec does not accept transfer of registration.

Gujilde urged the wouldbe voters to avoid flocking to local election offices on the last day in order to avoid the long queues of voters trying to beat the deadline.

Filipino citizens between 15 to 30 years old on or before May 14, 2018 and residing in the barangay for at least six months are qualified to register as SK voters.

Qualified as regular voters are Filipino citizens at least 18 years old on or before the joint elections, a resident of the Philippines for at least one year, and a resident for at least six months in the place where he or she proposes to vote.

As of November 25, Comelec-Cebu province recorded a total of 28,380 new registrants for SK and barangay elections. The number includes those from the cities of Cebu, Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue.

Cebu City south district has the highest number of registrants with 4,628, followed by Cebu City north district with 3,320; Mandaue City with 2,940; and Lapu-Lapu City with 1,672.

The municipality of Ginatilan, on the other hand, has the lowest turnout with only 33 registrants among Cebu’s towns.

Gujilde said the actual numbers of voters for the SK and barangay elections are still subject for approval by the Election Registration Board Hearing.

This is the third voters’ registration for the barangay and SK elections that the Comelec has conducted since 2017.

The poll body conducted its first voters’ registration on July 15, 2016 to July 30, 2016, which was for the barangay and SK polls initially scheduled for October 2016.

The current third round of voters’ registration is in preparation for the barangay and SK elections that were moved anew to May 14, 2018.—

Ashlee Love Marzon, USJR Intern/KBQ