MANILA, Philippines (Updated 2:00 p.m.) — There are so far 63.36 million registered voters for the 2022 national polls, and this number is expected to rise with the extension of the sign-up period until the end of October, the Commission on Elections said on Wednesday.
In an interview with CNN Philippines’ The Source, Comelec Chairman Sheriff Abas said the poll body has so far processed 63,364,932 registered voters as of September 11.
“We have an additional 9,147,236 [voters],” Abas said in Filipino. Of these, more than 5,000,000 are first-time voters. There are also 3.2 million voters who sought transfers, and some 871,000 who reactivated their voter status.
While the number of additional voters is already high, Abas said, they expect more registrants in the coming days, as the Comelec heeds clamor of both chambers of Congress and several sectors to extend the sign-up period.
Abas said the Comelec en banc will formalize the declaration of extension on Wednesday.
Current registration period is until September 30. The poll body will then hold filing of certificates of candidacy from October 1-8, and will resume voter sign-ups on October 9 until October 30.
Abas said they conferred with regional directors in the main and field office and they rejected extending the registration period. But he said that they again “balanced the interest of all stakeholders and we listened to the wisdom of the Senate and Congress and the people on the ground, including those who are lining up [for registration].”
Comelec officials have previously repeatedly rejected extending the period for voter registration, warning that preparation for the 2022 polls may be affected, but lawmakers have not bought into this reasoning.
Both chambers passed a measure seeking to extend the period for sign-ups by a month.
Some Filipinos looking to register as voters have resorted to camping out at registration sites in the wee hours of the morning to secure one of the limited registration slots. — Kristine Joy Patag with reports from Xave Gregorio