Comelec firm on Sept. 30 voter signup deadline

MANILA – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Wednesday rejected the call of several lawmakers to extend the voter registration beyond the Sept. 30 deadline, citing operational concerns.

In a virtual presser, Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said the majority of the Commission en banc members decided not to extend the registration period as it will have a “domino effect” on the preparations for the May 9, 2022 elections.

“We have said so many times before the voter registration period ends on September 30, 2021…and immediately after that there are several activities that are already very critical to the success of the 2022 elections. Basically, the overview reiterated what the en banc already knew was that this will have an effect on all of these other activities. you delay one, and you basically delay everything else,” he added.

He, however, said the poll body has allowed the extending the registration hours and they will have voter registration on Saturdays and holidays.

The details will be released when the actual resolution is promulgated, Jimenez said.

Earlier, Senators Nancy Binay, Leila de Lima, Risa Hontiveros, Francis Pangilinan, Ralph Recto, Franklin Drilon, and Joel Villanueva filed a resolution seeking to extend the voter registration period beyond Sept. 30.

This came as Metro Manila and other areas have been put under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) and modified ECQ (MECQ), prompting the suspension of voter registration activities.

Latest Comelec data revealed the number of registered voters for next year’s polls has reached 60.1 million.

Of the number, more than 58 million are existing registered voters, more than 1.2 million are new registrants, while more than 800,000 are first-time voters and will be turning 18 years old before the elections.

The latest data from the Comelec also showed there are some 6.3 million delisted voters.