BONTOC, Mountain Province – The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) in the province called on qualified voters in the ten municipalities to avail of the ongoing registration for them to exercise their right of suffrage in the May 10, 2022 synchronized national and local elections.
Provincial Election Supervisor lawyer Ricardo Lampac said that individuals turning 18 years old on May 10, 2022 are qualified to vote and they should not wait for the last day of registration to register to avoid the crowd in the different election offices that could result to their disenfranchisement as voters if they will not be accommodated.
Further, registered voters who want to transfer their registration to other areas inside and outside the province can also avail of the existing registration period to process their transfer of registration.
Lampac added that even deactivated voters for failing to vote in 2 successive elections can also avail of the reactivation of their voting status while those who want to correct the entries in their registration can start doing so the soonest as there are no crowds yet in the election offices provincewide.
Last January 20, 2020, the COMELEC ordered the start of the continuing registration of voters in the country to allow qualified voters to register.
The registration of voters will run until September 3, 2021 prior to the scheduled filing of certificates of candidacy by those interested to seek national or local elected positions which will be scheduled sometime in October 2021 in preparation for the proposed hybrid conduct of the elections.
The Constitution mandates the continuing registration of voters prior to the conduct of elections every 3 years to allow qualified voters to vote and to be voted upon.
Lampac said qualified voters must ensure they are registered in their chosen voting places in the upcoming elections by sparing part of their time to register with the poll body because it is their constitutional mandate to exercise their right of suffrage.
The provincial election office is still awaiting requests from the different barangays in the province for their preferred off-site registration schedules for the COMELEC personnel to visit them to register voters done right in their barangay.
By HENT