BONTOC, Mountain Province – The extension of the registration of voters up to the end of this month will significantly affect the established calendar of activities of the Commission on Election (Comelec) for the upcoming May 9, 2022 synchronized national and local elections, a poll official said here recently.
Provincial Election Supervisor lawyer Ricardo Lampac stated that the extension of the registration of voters will favor politicians who will surely exert extra efforts to haul prospective voters in their places to advance their bid to be elected into public office or get re-elected for their current positions.
The provincial election officer claimed that based on what had been happening in the past political exercises, the trend in the last days of registration is for the transfer of the registration areas of voters who want to support their family members, relatives or benefactors aspiring for their desired elected positions in the upcoming national and local polls.
Lampac claimed that the extension of the registration of voters will pave the way for the mass transfer of registration because voters will now be aware of those who will be aspiring for elected positions.
Further, the established calendar of activities for next year’s elections will be disturbed by the extension of voters’ registration because there will be a good number of activities that will be compromised, especially the scheduled meetings of the election registration boards, among others.
However, Lampac claimed that officials and employees of the poll body will make the appropriate adjustments to the difficult situation created by the extension of the registration of voters to make sure that its effect to the poll body’s calendar of activities will be minimized so that they will not be catching up on time remaining for the upcoming political exercise.
The election official called on voters to avail of the extended registration period by registering in the areas where they desire to cast their votes for next year’s political exercise.
According to him, qualified voters should not wait for the last minute to register in future elections as it is their mandate to register upon reaching the age of 18 so that they will be able to effectively and efficiently exercise their constitutional right to suffrage or their right to vote and to be voted upon.
He admitted that for small offices like in Mountain Province, it will be difficult for them to adjust to the implications of the extension of the registration of voters because they will have to work on multi-roles just to fulfill the existing activities scheduled by the poll body in time for the upcoming elections.
Lampac expressed hope that Mountain Province will be able to further increase the number of registered voters from their initial target of more than 108,000 so that they will be given the chance to exercise their right to suffrage, thus, they should start availing of the extended registration period and for them not to wait for the few remaining days before again lining up in the election offices to register for next year’s elections. By HENT