Biometrics incomplete? You may still vote, says Comelec

REGISTERED voters with incomplete or corrupted biometrics data will still be allowed to vote in next year’s polls, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said Tuesday.

Those without biometrics at all, however, will be purged from the voters’ list.

“We will separate the voters without biometrics and those with incomplete biometrics or those that were corrupted in the database will not be deactivated. They will be allowed to vote next year,” Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said.

Jimenez cited Comelec Resolution No. 10013 which provides that voters with incomplete or corrupted biometrics data shall not be deactivated but be allowed to vote in the May 2016 elections.

This is because there were instances when not all of the biometrics data of a registrant were taken during the validation process due to technical problems.

Some registrants, he said, were told to come back the next day to complete the process but did not return.

“Other cases were the result of deadline beating during the last few days of the registration period,” Jimenez said.

Those who will be allowed to vote despite lacking biometrics data will have to complete their records at a later date, he said.

Jimenez said that allowing those with incomplete records to vote was aimed at minimizing the number of those who stand to be disenfranchised in the next election.

“We think of getting more people to vote, that’s most important. Let us not punish those with incomplete biometrics, especially those whose records got corrupted not through their fault. So we’re allowing them to exercise their right of suffrage,” he added.

Under the Mandatory Biometrics Voter Registration Act, the Comelec is authorized to deactivate voters who fail to submit themselves for validation by the last day of registration for the May 2016 elections.

Section 8 of Republic Act No. 10367 states that the records of voters without biometrics data or who failed to submit for validation shall be deactivated.

Last week, the Comelec started the deactivation process for voters without biometrics.