No break for Comelec for last 2 weeks of registration

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will go without a break in the last two weeks of voter’s registration to accommodate more people.

Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista said office hours at the Comelec will be extended from the present 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Saturday since there are more than two million registered voters still without biometrics data.  

Bautista said this is part of the Comelec’s “last push” to prevent the disenfranchisement of these voters in the May 9, 2016 general elections.

“We want to maintain a 12-hour shift. We are looking at 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day from Oct. 17 to 31 or maybe 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. or 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. as long as it’s 12 hours seven days a week,” he said.

Bautista said he had directed the local election officials to identify alternative venues in their areas that have the capacity to host satellite voter’s registration. These can be malls, schools or auditoriums.

He added the Comelec is planning not to hold voter’s registration in local offices with limited space.

Bautista said Comelec will acquire additional 100 fingerprint scanners to be deployed in areas with a large volume of registrants.