COMELEC to halt
registration
Commission on Election (COMELEC) offices in Negros Occidental
will suspend general registration starting June 25 until August 1.
COMELEC offices in the province and other parts of the country
will give way for the conduct of general registration of voters in the
Provinces of Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-tawi in the
Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) according to COMELEC Resolution No.
9443.
Wanted VRMs, personnel
"To effect an honest and credible registration of
voters," COMELEC will use voter registration machines (VRM) in ARMM. VRMs
will capture demographics and biometrics data and are now used by COMELEC
nationwide. However, the commission needs to utilize VRMs from other regions in
order to conduct registration in ARMM in just nine days, July 9 to 18.
Aside from the machines, ARMM will also need additional COMELEC
personnel. According to Agnes D. Roullo, Election Officer at Calatrava, Negros
Occidental, 45 COMELEC personnel from the province will be deployed to ARMM on
July 2 including herself and San Carlos City Election Officer Atty. Ma. Liza
Tubera-Sy.
Both COMELEC-San Carlos and Calatrava will also send their
VRMs.
Pending applications
Resolution No. 9443 also states that "all applications for
registration, transfer with reactivation, reactivation, correction/change of
entries and reinstatement in the Book of Voters received from April 1 to June
14, 2012" shall be heard on August 20, the next Election Regulation Board
meeting. The scheduled July 16 meeting had been thus postponed. The resolution
was promulgated June 8 by COMELEC headed by Chairman Sixto S. Brillantes, Jr.
The VRM and personnel augmentation may be deployed in any city or
town within ARMM.
San Carlos registration
A COMELEC assistant said the suspension does not have a major
effect on the flow of registration, reactivation, correction, transfer and
reinstatement of voters at the San Carlos office because COMELEC has been open
for voters' applications since May 2011. Prior to the suspension, the office
accommodates 40-50 voters a day. But the employee added that on October, the
last month of registration, applicants are sure to flood the office but
COMELEC-San Carlos warns that they can only entertain 150 applicants a day at
the maximum.
As of the April 2012 Election Registration Board (ERB) meeting,
there are now 65,339 registered voters in the city. From January to March, this
year, 1,042 new applicants have registered.
Calatrava registration
In the Calatrava office, Roullo said that barangays initiated
their own registration schedule and would bring applicants from far-flung areas
to Calatrava Municipal Hall where the COMELEC office is located. During these
barangay schedules, 50 to 80 clients per day are accommodated. But during the
peak last month, the Calatrava election officer assured they can accept 200
applicants per day, maximum.
There are now 41,380 registered voters in the town as of April
2012 ERB meeting.
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