THE July 23 deadline for voter’s registration, reactivation and transfer is unlikely to be extended, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday said, citing limitations imposed by the Voter’s Registration Act (RA 8189).
Acting Elections spokesman John Rex Laudiangco said section 8 of the law states that “no registration shall, however, be conducted during the period starting 120 days before a regular election.”
Laudiangco said the prohibition, counted from December 5, 2022, will start on August 27, 2022.
The poll body started accepting applications for registration, reactivation, transfer, change of name/correction of entries, reinstatement/inclusion in the list of voters, and transfer from overseas post to local on July 4. The last day for filing applications is set on July 23.
Under the Comelec timeline, the last day to post or publish the applications is on July 25, while the last day of receipt of opposition to applications is on July 28.
The Election Registration Board will conduct a hearing on the oppositions on August 1, while the verification of the national list of registered voters, drafting of approval of projects, and establishment/splitting/merger/clustering/creation of precincts will be from August 2 to 6.
“This is how limited our timelines are in order to comply with laws,” Laudiangco said.
The Comelec official appealed to the public to “apply early and not crowd on the last remaining days” of the registration period.
“Comelec had readily observed that the applicants’ turn-out is very high. And we expect that to continue this last week of registration,” he said.
Laudiangco reminded applicants to check the Comelec schedules for offsite/satellite registrations, particularly in malls and large venues, and come to the designated registration places with fully accomplished application forms and acceptable proofs of identification, and to observe minimum public health standards while in line.
He said the Comelec’s nationwide consolidated daily report showed that as of July 15, the number of new applicants has reached 1,301,593, of which 863,078 are 15 to 17 years old; 435,266 are aged 18 to 30; and 72,249 are aged 31 above.
Application for transfer from within the same city/municipality is 58,691 for the barangay elections; and 599 for the SK elections.
Application for transfer with reactivation is at 9,532; applications for transfer with reactivation and correction of entries at 3,491; applications for transfer with correction of entries at 11,927; for reactivation, 61,751; for reactivation with correction of entries, 40,450; application for inclusion in the book of voters, 59; reinstatement of name in the list of voters, 23; transfer from overseas voting to local, 3,842.
The total number of applications processed as of July 15 is at 1,805,272.
