Suspension of voters registration extended until August 31

BAGUIO CITY –– The Commission on Elections has extended the suspension of the processing of voters registration and application for voters certification to August 31.

The resumption of registration was originally scheduled on July 1 in Baguio and all Benguet municipalities, said lawyer Elenita Tabangin-Capuyan, Benguet election supervisor, on Thursday.

But the Comelec sitting en banc on Thursday approved a recommendation from Comelec Deputy Executive Director for Operations Teopisto Elnas to study the re-opening of poll offices in light of the possibility that these would draw crowds.

“Daily statistics show the upward trend of the dreaded (coronavirus disease) and we in the Commission cannot (be) the cause for its rise,” Elnas says in a June 23 communique to the commissioners.

“Based on the submitted readiness report, the majority of the field offices are still awaiting the delivery of procured COVID-19 supplies such as face masks, face shields, and disinfecting solutions to combat the spread of the virus,” he wrote.

Regional election offices must also be redesigned to accommodate old and new voters, using new transaction guidelines that are still being prepared, Elnas adds in the memorandum.

The commission’s decision was relayed via group chat, Capuyan said.

Had it pushed through, Capuyan would have required all voting applicants to wear face masks and gloves at all times, except when they submit their biometric data, such as fingerprints.

LZB