Disabled folk will still get to register

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Sunday said persons with disabilities (PWDs) in areas where the special registration has been postponed due to the massive flooding will have another day to enlist for the 2013 balloting.

Election Commissioner Rene Sarmiento said the special voter registration for PWDs did not push through on Saturday in Bulacan, Pampanga, Cainta, Marikina and Pasig as these areas were submerged in floodwaters.

The special registration will be held before the end of the month, he said.

Sarmiento pointed out, however, that PWDs could still file their applications for registration until October 31, the end of the registration period for the midterm elections next year.

“The National PWD Voter Registration Day is a special day for our PWDs,” explained the commissioner. “On that day, we honor our PWD voters as we highlight our shared efforts to ensure that not one of them gets left behind when it comes to their right of suffrage.”

All the Comelec local offices, except those in the flooded areas and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), held a special registration on Saturday to encourage PWDs to participate in the 2013 elections.

The poll body had initially scheduled the event to coincide with the National Day of People with Disabilities last month but had to postpone it to give way to the special registration in the ARMM.

Sarmiento said all qualified PWDs across the country who were not able to register over the weekend may still do so anytime in the Comelec office nearest them or in designated registration sites in their areas so they can vote in accessible polling places next year.