THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) is looking to increase the number of clustered precincts to be used by voters for the May 2022 national and local polls to over 100,000.
In an online public forum, Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said the poll body is looking at having up to 105,000 clustered precincts for the forthcoming poll exercise.
“Before, we had about 85,000 clustered precincts. Now, our estimate is we will be having 100,000 to 105,000,” Jimenez said.
“There will be approximately 800 voters per precinct,” he said, noting that physical distancing is needed due to the pandemic.
He said they expect a higher number of voters in the next elections than in 2019 with voter registration period still ongoing.
“The registered voters in 2019 were 61 million. Now, we are already at 60 million,” he said.
“We don’t want voters to crowd the poll precincts. There will be social distancing inside the polling places,” said Jimenez.
