BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – Negros Occidental has 116,045 new voters after the three-week voters’ registration for the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections wrapped up on July 23.
Records of the Commission on Elections show that Bacolod City has 10,309 new voters.
As for the 31 cities and municipalities in Negros Occidental, Bago City has the most number of new voters with 7,439, while Candoni has the lowest with 1,320.
Atty. Ian Lee Anonoria, provincial election supervisor, said the number may still go down after the Election Registration Board (ERB) will convene on Aug. 1.
The ERB will check the new applicants if they are indeed residents and citizens of their respective areas, Ananoria said.
“If nobody questions them, an applicant for voter registration will be approved,” he added.
Anonoria said that based on his experience, “there is not much question of voters during the barangay and SK election.”
He added that there are four to five towns in Negros Occidental who were are unable to accommodate new voters by midnight on July 23.
“Our voter registration machines automatically shut off at 12 midnight as a matter of safety,” he said.
The number of applicants for voters is minimal at an average of 30 to 50, Ananoria said, adding that almost all applicants in the 31 local government units in the province were able to register./PN
