BONTOC, Mountain Province – Residents who are already qualified to vote in the upcoming May 9, 2022 synchronized national and local elections must already avail of the remaining few days to register in their desired areas where to cast their votes before the formal end of the prescribed registration period by the end of the month.
Provincial election Supervisor lawyer Ricardo Lampac disclosed that there are many individuals who have been previously registered in other areas outside the province who want to transfer their registration areas to their home towns in the province that is why they must take advantage of the remaining few days of registration to do so.
He admitted that in the previous conduct of the national and local elections, there were many voters in one of the biggest municipalities in the province who decided to transfer their registration to other areas that is why there was a significant reduction in the province’s number of registered voters.
However, he noticed that there has been a significant number of voters who are registered outside the province who want to transfer their registration in their respective hometowns that is why it was projected that the local election office will be able to overshoot their projected 5,000 additional voters who will be registered during the ongoing registration period.
Lampac claimed that the actual number of registered voters in the province will be known after the conduct of the election registration board (ERB) meeting on October 18, 2021 right after the deadline of the ongoing registration period by the end of the month.
According to him, the activities of the poll body is concentrated in the ongoing registration aside from the other related works in preparation for the filing of certificates of candidacy (COCs) by the individuals aspiring for various elected positions in the national and local governments that will immediately follow once the registration period will come to an end as the same will be slated for October 1-8, 2021.
Lampac urged the qualified voters wanting to register for the upcoming national and local elections to spare part of their precious time to register in the places where they intend to cast their votes so that they will not line up in the different election offices during the last few days of registration.
The provincial election officer asserted that they do not want people to be lining up in the different election offices in the last few days of registration because they might be violating the prescribed minimum public health standards where the same might cause the spread of the dreaded Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) as they do not want such event to be a super spreader in the first placed as what they want is for qualified voters to be already registered in their places where they intend to cast their votes next year.
He reminded prospective registrants to already fill out the downloaded registration forms before going to the different elections offices to have their biometrics taken to save on time and lessen their exposure to the people to avoid unnecessary incidents that might trigger a surge in COVID-19 cases in the province. By Dexter A. See
