BACOLOD City – The Election Registration Board (ERB) in this city has disapproved six voter registration applications after discovering that the names of the applicants matched those on the national list of registered voters.
Since voter registration began in February, the local Commission on Elections (Comelec) has been submitting applicant names weekly for vetting.
It was determined from the national records that these six individuals were already registered as voters in other local government units and even abroad.
Kathrina Trinio-Caña, the City Comelec officer and chair of the ERB, said the disapprovals occurred on the second day of the ERB hearings on April 16, because the applicants neither attended the hearings nor responded to calls.
“May nag-match, may existing record sila sa ibang lugar,” said the Comelec official.
She explained that since they were already registered elsewhere, they should not have applied for new registrations but rather for transfers.
Following the disapproval, notices will be sent to the affected individuals, after which they can reapply for registration, this time requesting a transfer, should they wish to reprocess their applications, added Trinio-Caña.
In addition to these disapprovals, the ERB also approved the deactivation of 24,000 inactive voters in the city who had failed to vote in two consecutive elections./PN
