Off-site voters registration at Cebu provincial jail

AN off-site registration will be held for inmates of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC) in barangay Kalunasan, Cebu City on Tuesday this week.

Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner Rene Sarmiento will visit the site together with Comelec provincial director Lionel Marco Castillano for the off-site registration which starts at 8 a.m.

The recent off-site registration was held in barangay Guadalupe, yesterday.   The City Council approved the resolution asking Comelec to conduct similar off-site registration procedures to colleges and universities within Cebu City.

The off-site registration will allow first-time voters to register ahead of the Oct. 31 deadline for next year’s elections.

City Comelec-north district officer Marchel Sarno encouraged voters not to wait for the deadline to register.

Councilor Alvin Dizon said they will ask local universities and colleges to facilitate the registration of their students who are eligible to vote for the 2013 elections by coordinating with the local Comelec office.

Dizon said the off-site registration activity will “not tap local government units to prevent political color.”  Dizon said 60 percent of the population constitute youth voters.

National Youth Commission (NYC) official Erwin Andaya said the off-site registration will encourage more youths to sign up and vote in the 2013 elections. Correspondent Tweeny M. Malinao