Disabled given one day to sign up for 2013 polls

Comelec Commissioner Rene Sarmiento. INQUIRER file photo

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has set aside one day in August to allow people with disabilities (PWDs) to register or update their records so they can vote in the May 2013 polls.

The Comelec announced on Monday all its offices across the country, except in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, will hold a PWD registration day on August 11.

Some schools and other places will be designated registration areas to make it easier for PWDs to sign up, according to Election Commissioner Rene Sarmiento.

Sarmiento said the Comelec had initially planned to hold the registration during the celebration of the National Day of People with Disabilities last month, but it had to be reset due to the special registration in the ARMM.

Since the 2010 elections, the Comelec has registered over 24,000 of the roughly two-million estimated potential PWD voters in the country.

“With this special registration on August 11, we expect the number will increase,” Sarmiento told reporters.

During the special registration, the PWDs will be asked to fill out a supplementary data sheet to guide the Comelec in implementing two PWD-friendly improvements for the May 2013 polls.

These include designating ground floor rooms as polling places for PWDs and establishing accessible polling places in areas where numerous PWD voters live. Jocelyn R. Uy