Voter registration resumes July 4: Comelec

FILE: A first-time voter registers at the Commission on Election (Comelec) office in Pasay City on Wednesday (March 10, 2021). (PNA photo by Avito C. Dalan)

MANILA – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Thursday announced that voter registration activities will resume on July 4.

Acting poll body spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco said the en banc approved the resumption of voter registration which only runs until July 23.

He explained that under Republic Act 8189 (Continuing Voter’s Registration Act), voter registration is prohibited within 120 days prior to elections.

“The Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) is on December 5, 2022. Roughly starting August 7, it’s already prohibited,” the poll body official told reporters.

The approved registration period is seven days shorter than the earlier proposal to hold it until July 30.

Laudiangco added that there are many post-registration activities and requirements that need to be given enough time.

“Therefore, we only have July 24 to August 6 to post/publish names of voter registration applicants, set the Election Registration Board (ERB) hearings, subject registrants to database verification, conduct said ERB hearings, draft and approve the project of precincts and cluster established precincts as may be necessary. (These are) apart from petitions for inclusion or exclusions which will be filed with, heard and decided by MeTCs (Metropolitan Trial Courts) or MTCs (Municipal Trial Courts),” he added.

The poll body earlier said the projected number of registered voters for the village and youth polls is over 66 million, which includes some 23 million youth voters.