MANILA, Sept. 6 (PNA) — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has urged the people of voting age to take advantage of the remaining weeks of the nationwide registration for them to register since it is not keen on extending the Oct. 31 deadline.
Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista is hoping that the public will not wait until the last minute before they go to the local poll body offices in cities and municipalities to register.
“The deadline is fast approaching. Filipinos love to wait for the last-minute. But we are reminding them to register or have their biometrics taken as early as now,” he said.
The poll body chief believes that they have given them sufficient time to have their biometrics taken or have their registrations validated.
“We believe that we have given enough time for our voters to register… so, right now, no more extension,” said Bautista.
He noted that they also need time to finalize the list of candidates since their names will still be printed in the official ballots.
“We still have a lot of other things to prepare for the automated elections…,” Bautista added.
The continuing voter registration started on May 6, 2014 and is set to end on late next month. It is conducted from Monday to Saturdays nationwide in local Comelec offices as well as in satellite registrations in barangays and malls.
Comelec data showed that there are still some 3.8 million registered voters that have yet to submit their biometrics data to the poll body and are likely to be disenfranchised in the forthcoming elections.
The Comelec is looking to have more than 53 million registered voters for the May 2016 elections. (PNA)