{"id":268598,"date":"2020-09-13T08:21:45","date_gmt":"2020-09-13T12:21:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=268598"},"modified":"2020-09-13T08:21:45","modified_gmt":"2020-09-13T12:21:45","slug":"no-appearance-voter-registration-eyed-for-passport-holders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2020\/09\/13\/no-appearance-voter-registration-eyed-for-passport-holders\/","title":{"rendered":"‘No appearance\u2019 voter registration eyed for passport holders"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
FILE: Two applicants fill up the Commission on Election form during the resumption of the system of continuing registration of voters at the local Comelec in Pasay City on Tuesday (September 1, 2020). (PNA photo by Avito C. Dalan)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is eyeing at adopting a \u201cno personal appearance\u201d for voter registrants with passports.<\/p>\n

According to Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon, they are planning to let Filipinos abroad and in the country to register online, in coordination with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).<\/p>\n

\u201cComelec is studying a project that I proposed: no personal appearance for voter registrants with passports online; if partnership with @DFAPHL is possible,\u201d she said in her Twitter account.<\/p>\n

\u201cVerification of identity can be done using biometrics data of @dfarecords,\u201d the poll body official added.<\/p>\n

Those who will be covered by the proposal are domestic and overseas voters.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis online method of registration needs no personal appearance and will encourage Filipinos all over the world and within the country who have passports to register,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Guanzon added that they are looking to implement it during the voter registration which is currently ongoing in some areas in the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, (possible this voter registration), if DFA will agree to partner with Comelec and share their biometrics database,\u201d she said in a Viber message.<\/p>\n

The proposal is supported by the Commission en banc, she added.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo achieve a high turnout of voter registrants and thereby ensure voters ‘access to elections, especially PWDS, the elderly, pregnant women,\u201d Guanzon said.<\/p>\n

She added that they are waiting for the response of the DFA.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don’t need a law for this. Means and methods of elections are the sole discretion of Comelec, according to Supreme Court rulings,\u201d the Comelec commissioner said.<\/p>\n

Asked if it is timely due to pandemic? Guanzon said: \u201cthis is not only timely, it is necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n

Early this month, the voter registration resumed nationwide except for areas under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) or modified ECQ.<\/p>\n

The nationwide voter registration period started on January 20, 2020. It will run until September 30, 2021 in preparation for the May 2022 elections.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0\u2013 The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is eyeing at adopting a \u201cno personal appearance\u201d for voter registrants with passports. According …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":267297,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-268598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-ferdinand-patinio","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268598","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=268598"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268598\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":268600,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268598\/revisions\/268600"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/267297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=268598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=268598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=268598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}