BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is blaming holiday festivities for the low turnout of new voter registrants in Negros Occidental.
Provincial elections supervisor, Atty. Ian Ananoria, said they recorded only 7,770 new registrants as of yesterday morning.
Data presented by Ananoria showed Bacolod City with the highest number of registrants at 2,776 during the first two weeks of December, while San Carlos City logged 522.
Other local government units had the following number of registrants: Murcia, 412; Cauayan, 411; Himamaylan City, 324; Escalante City and Silay City, 280 each; and Bago City, 234.
During the first week of voters’ registration, Negros Occidental logged 4,318 registrants. On the second week, it had 3,452.
Bacolod City had 1,743 registrants during the first week and 1,033 on the second week of registration.
“Most of the registrants were young people,” said Ananoria.
Comelec caters to these types of applications: new voter registration, transfer of voter’s registration, reactivation of registration, reinstatement, change/correction of entries, and overseas to local registration.
Online registration is available for those who want their registration reactivated for failure to vote twice.
Applicants are advised to bring valid proofs of identifications such as national ID (PhilSys), passport, driver’s license, employment ID, student ID or library card signed by the management of the school, college or university, senior citizen’s ID, PWD ID, Indigenous Peoples Certificate from the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, and notarized barangay certification with applicant’s photo and signature.
To qualify as barangay election voters, an applicant should be 18 years old and above, Filipino residing in the Philippines for at least one year, and residing in the area where he/she is looking to get registered for at least six months prior to election day.
For Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) voters, an applicant must be a Filipino, aged between 15 to 30 years old, and residing in the area where he/she is looking to get registered for at least six months prior to election day.
The voters’ registration will run until Jan. 31, 2023 except on Dec. 24, 25 and 31, 2022 and Jan. 1, 2023, or on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, the last day of the calendar year and New Year’s Day, respectively./PN
