Ex-comelec exec pushes resumption of voter listing in areas under MECQ

AFORMER official of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) is pushing for the resumption of voter registration in areas under modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ).

In an open letter addressed to the Comelec en banc, former Commissioner Gregorio Y. Larrazabal urged the poll body to allow more people to register and cast their votes in the 2021 National and Local Elections (NLE).

“My understanding, your Honors, is that areas under MECQ have seen a decline in the number of Covid-19 cases as an indicator of a successful implementation of ECQ [enhanced community quarantine],” Larrazabal wrote in a three-page letter.

The government placed Metro Manila, Apayao, Ilocos Norte, Bulacan, Cavite, Lucena City, Rizal, Aklan, Iloilo Province, Iloilo City, Lapu-lapu City, Cebu City, Mandaue City, and Cagayan de Oro City under MECQ until September 7, 2021 to further slowdown the spread of Covid-19 infections in the said areas.

Larrazabal noted that allowing voter registration in these MECQ areas is now crucial since Comelec said it is unlikely to extend the voter registration period beyond September 30, 2021.

“As the deadline for said voter registration nears, there is a sense of uneasiness, an anxiety of sorts, that millions of hopeful voters will be disenfranchised through no fault of their own,” Larrazabal said.

As of August 13, 2021, Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon said there were already over 5.7 million newly registered voters.

Comelec only allows voter registration in areas under general community quarantine (GCQ) and modified GCQ (MGCQ).

In a virtual briefing during the weekend, Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said he hopes the proposal can be considered by the Comelec en banc.

“Hopefully it will be approved so that one week of voter registration in September will not be lost [to the suspension],” Jimenez said.