Comelec expects 50,000 new voters to meet deadline in Bicol

LEGAZPI CITY — Over 50,000 new voters are expected to troop to various designated voters registration centers to beat the Commission on Election (Comelec) deadline on Monday, a ranking Comelec official said.

Maria Juana Valesa, Comelec Bicol director, in an interview said the latest count indicates that 187,181 new voters registered as of Sept. 29 (Sunday), representing 78 percent of the registration target.

The additional 50,000 new voters that would sign in Monday would bring the count close to 250,000 new registered voters, taking the total number of registered voters in Bicol to 3.8 million this year. During 2016, 3.6 million voters were registered in the region.

Valesa said with the newly registered voters this would make Bicol the fifth vote-rich region in the country behind Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon), National Capital Region, Central Luzon, and the Visayas.

Voters registration trending shows that Camarines Sur has the most number of registered voters followed by Albay, Masbate, Sorsogon, Camarines Norte and Catanduanes.

The commission has also deactivated over 300,000 voters or 10 percent who failed to vote in two succeeding elections. /je