BONTOC, Mountain Province – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is urging barangay officials from the barangays of the province to submit to the Provincial Election Office (PEO) their desired schedules when to conduct the off-site registration of voters in their areas of responsibility to avoid conflicts in schedule.
Provincial Election Supervisor Atty. Ricardo Lampac said municipal and barangay officials in the province had been informed of the possible offsite registration of voters in their areas of jurisdiction, provided that, the poll body through the PEO, will be given the proposed dates during which the said activity shall be conducted in their places to prevent possible conflicts in schedule and to allow their office to make the necessary adjustments to accommodate such requests for offsite voter registration.
“We have sufficient time to ensure that qualified voters can register with the poll body to allow them to vote during the May 10, 2022 synchronized national and city elections. We call on our barangay officials to already submit to our office their proposed schedules when to conduct the offsite voter registration so we can organise our schedules,” Lampac stressed.
The election officer disclosed that individuals turning 18 years old on May 10, 2020 are already qualified to register while registered Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) voters who will be turning 18 on the aforesaid date will automatically be elevated as qualified registered voters.
Aside from the ongoing registration of voters for the 2022 national and local elections, Lampac stated that the other voter-related activities being done by the different election offices include the correction of entry in the information of the voters, especially on the status, the transfer of the place where a voter intends to vote, and the reactivation of deactivated voters who were not able to vote for 2 consecutive elections, among others.
Lampac appealed to upcoming qualified voters to avail of the registration of voters scheduled from January 20, 2020 to September 30, 2021 so they can exercise their right to vote and to avoid the disenfranchisement of voters.
According to him, it is important for qualified voters to exercise their constitutional right of suffrage and to do this, they must register with the poll body during the prescribed registration period for their names will be included in the voter’s list.
Lampac urged qualified voters not to wait for the last day of registration and be inconvenienced by the long lines in the different election offices by availing early of the scheduled registration period.
He expressed optimism there will be an influx of qualified voters in the different municipal election offices in the coming days to avail of the early registration period with the intensified information campaign on the said exercise of the constitutional right.
By Hent
