Number of new voters rising but Comelec has yet to meet target

OVER 66,000 additional new registered voters will be able to participate in the 2022 national and local elections. This after the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said the number of people who participated in its voter registration rose to 1,117,528 on Januar y 14 from 1,053,793 a week before that.

But despite the increase, Comelec Commissioner Rowena V. Guanzon expressed her concern over the slow increase in the number of newly-registered voters.

“We are behind our target of four million new registrants,” Guanzon said via the Comelec’s Twitter account.

Guanzon urged the still unregistered but qualified voters to participate in the activity amid the ongoing pandemic. She said the necessary minimum health standards are being strictly implemented in registration centers.

“Wear face masks and [face] shield, bring your own ballpen and go to [a registration center]; we have alcohol,” Guanzon said.

The ongoing voter registration resumed in September last year and will end on September 30, 2021.

Comelec Spokesman James B. Jimenez attributed the low turnout of their registrants to the ongoing movement restriction imposed by the government to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic.

Jimenez said they will be launching satellite registrations in the coming days to reach out to more applicants.

The top three areas with the most number of newly registered voters are Calabarzon (167,709), Central Luzon (125,360) and the National Capital Region (117,011).

The three areas with the lowest registrants are the Cordillera Administrative Region (17,337), Caraga (34,051) and Eastern Visayas (35,478).