7M Pinoys lost suffrage rights
One of the challenges is the 7 million voters we have deactivated in our registration records
Around seven million Filipinos will need to reactivate their voter’s registration to be able to cast their ballots in the next year’s polls, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) reported on Thursday.
Comelec Deputy Executive Director for Operations Teopisto Elnas told senators that the number of deactivated registrations were derived after the January Election Regulatory Boards (ERB) hearing which he said resulted after the registrants had failed to vote twice.
Out of the numbers, Elnas said they are projecting to have three million Filipinos to reactivate their registration but as of January 2021, only 200,000 have gone to Comelec offices.
“One of the challenges is the seven million voters we have deactivated in our registration records. (Our estimate is) three million will go back (in Comelec offices) for reactivation,” he said.
As of January 2021, registered voters for the 2022 National Elections have reached 58 million — just 32.5 percent of the poll body’s target.
The figure, according to Comelec, includes the 1.3 million individuals who are already registered, their target of 4 million new voters and 1.6 million voters from the Sangguniang Kabataan elections which would be extracted and added to their database subject to the approval of the city and municipal ERB.
The Comelec enumerated various factors for the low turnout of registrants including the reluctance of people to go out of their homes in fear of contracting the deadly coronavirus along with the restrictions set by the guidelines of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF).
Our estimate is 3 million will go back in Comelec offices for reactivation.
Under the current IATF guidelines, individuals below and above 15 to 65 years old, pregnant women and those with immunodeficiency, comorbidities and other health risks are required to stay at home.
To counter this, Elnas said the Comelec has formulated solutions such as the setting up of satellite offices, extending voting registration hours along with the release of an online show entitled “Quarantalk” and infomercial “Magparehistro Ka!”
Senator Francis Pangilinan, who filed a resolution that looks into the readiness of Comelec for the upcoming election, also suggested possible answers on the issue: The extension of the 30 September deadline; review their strategy in encouraging the youth to register; and the intensification of the satellite offices the poll body has set up.
“We filed this resolution precisely to look into the efforts as to how we may be able to step-up voter registration and how we are working towards a Covid-resilient, for lack of a better term, election process,” he said.
During the same hearing, senators urged the Comelec to make voting easier for seafarers as well as for the repatriated overseas Filipino workers (OFW).
Senator Francis Tolentino, for his part, renewed his appeal to find ways how seafarers could register and vote, considering that they are at sea most of the time.
“It’s not just the question of how to register. But ultimately, the question is how and where to vote in so far as the seafarers are concerned. They are at sea,” he said.
“Based on their Seaman’s Book, they have a six-month contract. Even if they reached, let’s say the Port of Rotterdam, they have to travel to The Hague to go to the Embassy and vote. So, it’s the manner of voting, not just the registration,” he added.
Senator Aquilino Pimentel III, meanwhile, appealed to Comelec to come up with means that could simplify the process for OFW who will need to change their voter’s registration from overseas to regular or domestic voter.
“I hope the Comelec could look into the matter and come up with a very convenient system for our OFW and other voters who also need to change their voter’s registration,” he said.