BONTOC, Mountain Province – The Provincial Election Supervisor here appealed to qualified voters wanting to exercise their right of suffrage for the October 23, 2017, barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections to avail of the registration period from November 7, 2016, to April 29, 2017, for them to be able to participate in the said political exercise.
Provincial Election Supervisor Ricardo Lampac said regular voters aged 18 years old and above who are not yet registered with the poll body and those qualified SK voters who are aged 15 to 17 years old should visit the nearest election offices in their respective municipalities so that they will be included in the list of voters for the barangay and SK elections next year.
“We call on the qualified voters to register early so that they will not encounter problems once the registration period will come to a close. We want them to be able to exercise their right to vote for their chosen barangay and SK officials during the October polls,” Lampac stressed.
Further, he called on the voters who failed to have their biometric taken to also signify their intention to have their voting rights activated.
Lampac explained that more than seven months period of registration is a regular one. Voters who want to transfer their registration can also avail of the services of the poll body in the different municipal, city and provincial offices so that their names will appear in the place where they want to vote during the barangay and SK elections.
The 7-month registration period is more than enough to accommodate all individuals wanting to register and to avail of other services, thus, qualified voters should visit the election offices early to avoid the hassle of last-minute registration.
Lampac added Comelec offices will be open on Saturdays to accommodate qualified voters wanting to register during weekends to help increase the number of voters.
For the SK voters who are aged 17 and will be turning 18 on or before the scheduled barangay and SK elections, Lampac explained that their names will be automatically elevated to the list of regular voters and that they will instead vote for their desired barangay officials instead of SK officials.
He said there will be personnel staffing the different election offices provincewide to serve the needs of those individuals wanting to inquire on the status of their registration or register as a regular or SK voter.
Lampac reiterated the appeal of Comelec officials to voters for them to visit the nearest election offices the earliest possible time so that they can have their biometric taken and their names included in the list of voters to avoid the possibility of their being disenfranchised.
By HENT