BONTOC, Mountain Province – The Provincial election Office disclosed that there is a big possibility that the province will exceed the targeted number of voters that will be registered and the total number of registered voters for the May 9, 2022 synchronized national and local elections.
Provincial Election Supervisor lawyer Ricardo Lampac said that as of the latest meeting of the province’s election registration board (ERB) in July, there were already more than 4,700 registered voters in the province but the same is expected to significantly increase after the end of the registration period on September 30, 2021.
Mountain Province had a voting population of more than 108,000 during the May 2019 midterm elections where the same is expected to increase once the province’s ERB will decide on the fate of the new registrants in their next meeting by October.
Lampac disclosed that with the newly approved registrants as of July, the total registered voters in the province is more than 107,000 and still counting as there is a continuous influx of interested registrants in the different municipal election offices established in the 10 municipalities.
While there are many registered voters who are transferring their registration to other polling centers outside the province, the provincial election official stipulated that there are also many residents wanting to be registered for the upcoming May 2022 synchronized elections.
He urged residents who are already qualified to voter those who will be at least 18 years old on May 9, 2022 to already register with the nearest election office in their place for them to be able to exercise their right of suffrage during the conduct of the synchronized national and local elections.
Earlier, the Comelec provided Mountain Province with at least 5,000 additional registered voters during the prescribed registration period that will be added to its existing number of registered voters in time for the conduct of the upcoming elections.
He emphasized that there will likely be an influx of voters to the polling centers during election day because next year’s political exercise will be covering ranking national officials amidst the ongoing Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic but the poll body is ready for the implementation of stricter rules and regulations to contain the spread of the deadly virus.
Lampac revealed that the poll body is also preparing for the upcoming filing of the required certificates of candidacy (COCs) of individuals aspiring for various elected positions on October 1-8, 2021 where all candidates will be considered as authorized persons outside residence (APORs) irregardless of what will be the prevailing community quarantine classification in the different parts of the country.
He reiterated that no amount of community quarantine will delay the scheduled filing of the COCs by the aspirants for the various elected positions because the same had already been programmed by the poll body and that there will be no delays in the timetable of the COMELEC as the same is already tight. By Dexter A. See
