Five-day voter registration starts today, Comelec says
Tacloban City (December 21) — In accordance with the Supreme Court ruling extending the voters’ list up until January 9, 2010, the Commission on Elections said it will resume voter registration on Monday, December 21.
However, Leyte Election Supervisor Atty. Felicisimo Embalsado said that the poll body will accept applications for registration for five days only, from December 21 to 23; and from December 28 to 29.
The Comelec Offices will accept applications for registration from 8:00 o’clock in the morning to 5:00 o’clock in the afternoon, Atty. Embalsado said.
Earlier, in a statement, Comelec Commissioner Jose Melo explained that the resumption of voters’ registration will run for five days only since the poll body will be on break during holidays and weekends.
The Comelec Commissioner said that as for the remaining week from January 4 up to the January 9 deadline, the poll body will use these working days for the “administrative aspects” of the registration.
“Registration is not only on the filing (of their applications)… There are also administrative aspects to this like completing the Book of Voters, posting notices of the Election Registration Board (ERB) and subsequent hearings,” he said.
It was also learned that the Comelec Commissioner also went to the high tribunal on Wednesday to explain how the recent decision to extend voters’ registration would affect the poll body’s preparations for the 2010 automated polls.
The Comelec commissioner earlier admitted that the high court’s decision had placed the poll body in a difficult situation, since approving and finalizing the list of voters would take a lot of time.
The poll body, nevertheless, encouraged voters who failed to make it to the earlier October 31 deadline to grab the opportunity to register during the extended list-up period.
The SC on December 15, extended to January 9 the voter registration for the 2010 elections after it nullified a Comelec resolution that limited the registration period only up to October 31 this year.
In its nine-page decision, the SC directed the Comelec to immediately reopen the registration as a reply to the petition of Kabataan party-list Rep. Raymond Palatino, who questioned the shortened period for registration. (PIA region8)
