Voter sign up in NCR Plus resumes May 17

MANILA – Voter registration in the National Capital Region (NCR) Plus area will resume on May 17, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said on Friday.

“Beginning Monday, the Comelec will be resuming registration in these areas, Mondays to Fridays, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.,” Comelec executive director Bartolome Sinocruz Jr. said in a virtual press briefing.

This came as the NCR Plus, composed of Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal were placed under general community quarantine (GCQ) with heightened restrictions from May 15 to 31.

Voter registration was suspended in these areas which were earlier placed under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) from March 29 to April 11 and modified ECQ (MECQ) from April 12 to May 14.

Sinocruz added that the local field or the satellite registration centers for overseas Filipino voters will also open.

He said they will also be coordinating with the field registration centers in the different offices of the government such as the Overseas Welfare Workers Administration (OWWA) and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

“We will need to coordinate with them, it will depend on the existing if they have their own lockdown procedures. But definitely, since the NCR has been downgraded to GCQ, I think it is time for them to open also,” Sinocruz added.

The voter registration nationwide has resumed on Sept. 1, 2020 and will run until Sept. 30, 2021, in connection with the May 2022 National and Local Elections.

Registrants may file their application at all Offices of Election Officers in cities and municipalities where they intend to vote.

The Comelec is looking to register some four million new voters.