Comelec: Voters seeking reactivation may comprise big number of registrants

Comelec Spokesperson James Jimenez. INQUIRER.net photo / RYAN LEAGOGO

MANILA, Philippines — The bulk of voter registrants for the upcoming barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections would be those seeking to reactivate their voting status, Commission on Elections (Comelec) Spokesperson James Jimenez said.

Speaking at a press conference on the resumption of the two-month registration period on Thursday, Jimenez said that the main reason why a voter is deactivated is their failure to vote in two consecutive elections.

“It’s one of the applications na talagang ine-expect natin na magdadala ng maraming tao. ‘Yong mga reactivation,” he said.

“Usually ang pinakamalaking bulk ng dahilan ng pagdi-deactivate in between elections is failure to vote twice,” he added.

Jimenez clarified that when a voter is deactivated, it does not mean that their name is removed from the voting list.

“Kapag nade-activate ka, [hin]di ibig sabihin tanggal ka na sa listahan. Ibig sabihin lang nasa listahan ka pero ang status mo: inactive,” he said.

Director Divina Blas-Perez, of the Comelec’s Election and Barangay Affairs Department, further explained that a voter, upon deactivation, receives a personal notice.

“Makaraang ma-deactivate sila, makakatanggap po sila ng personal notices. So, meron po silang ample opportunity para magpa-reactivate,” she said.

Aside from failing to vote in two consecutive elections, Blas-Perez noted that reasons for a voter’s deactivation include being sentenced to jail for one year, being sentenced for crimes against national security, and losing their Filipino citizenship, among others.

“Pwede silang magpa-reactive nitong August 1 to September 30 kung ‘yong reason ng kanilang deactivation no longer exists,” she said.

More youth voters

Jimenez also said that the poll body wants to bring in more new voters from the youth sector during the two-month registration period.

“Ultimately ang goal natin dito is to get as many of the first time voters as possible, especially those who have just turned 18. Just to clarify, hindi lang 18 years old ang first time voters. Maraming first time na 40 anyos na,” he said.

“’Yong mga taong hindi naman engaged dati na all of a sudden find themselves active and politically activated, they become voters for the first time. But more specifically ang target natin ay ‘yong kabataan dahil malaki kasi ang impact ng kabataan,” he added, citing that there were more than 20 million youth voters in the previous election last May.

Blas-Perez said Comelec expects the number of new registrants to be more than two million. /jpv

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Voter registration begins Aug. 1