Comelec to resume voter registration in August

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is set to resume in August voter registration for the May 2020 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) polls.

Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said the resumption of the continuing voter registration would run only for two months, or from Aug. 1 to Sept. 30, inclusive of Saturdays and holidays.

“Approximately two million new voters are expected to register during this period,” he said.

Current SK voters, he added, need not register anew as a barangay voter as “their names will automatically be transferred from the SK List of Voters to the regular List of Voters” when they turn 18.

Meanwhile, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) has proposed an alternative automated election system that will include a ballot confirmation process to address transparency issues in vote counting machines.

DICT acting Secretary Eliseo Rio Jr. led yesterday the demonstration of the alternative system as he proposed a return to the pre-automated elections setup wherein vote counting happens only after the end of poll hours.

Instead of the voters, Rio said it would be the election officers who would feed the ballots into vote tallying machines. During the counting, images of the actual ballots will be projected along with data on how the machine read it, enabling poll watchers to verify if the votes were properly counted.

This way, he added, poll hours might be shortened as no machine-related issues would happen during the actual voting. To further cut on time, the clustered precincts may also be divided to shorten lines at polling places. The ballots will then be collected and brought to designated vote tallying machines after the end of poll hours.

No changes were proposed in the transmission and canvassing of votes.

“Our proposal is anchored on making the elections more credible and transparent,” said Rio, citing transparency issues in the current system. – With Janvic Mateo, Richmond Mercurio