INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—This early, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) is calling on the nine million registered Filipino voters whose biometrics information have yet to be submitted and validated to complete their registration records or risk being deactivated in the 2016 presidential elections.
The Comelec on Sunday said a total of 9,018,256 registered voters were found to be without the needed data—consisting of digital fingerprints, photos and signatures—as of the last day of registration and validation on Oct. 31 last year in preparation for last May’s midterm elections.
Under Comelec Resolution No. 9721, the commission en banc said voters without biometrics data who failed to submit for validation on or before the last day of filing of application for registration for the May 9, 2016, elections shall be deactivated.
Not allowed to vote
“Deactivated voters shall not be allowed to vote,” ruled the Comelec en banc.
The Comelec resolution was anchored on Republic Act No. 10367, or the Mandatory Biometrics Registration Act of 2013, which states that voters who fail to submit their biometrics data for validation prior to the May 2016 elections shall be removed from the voters’ list and shall not be allowed to vote.
“Voters whose biometrics data have not been captured or those who have incomplete biometrics data may validate their registration records starting on July 1,” said the Comelec.
Validating records
Voters may accomplish the task personally at the Office of the Election Officer of the city or town where they are registered, it said. Comelec offices are open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The following documents may be presented to establish a voter’s identity: Current employee identification card with the signature of the employer; postal ID; school ID; driver’s license; NBI or PNP clearance; passport; SSS/GSIS ID; Integrated Bar of the Philippines ID; or license issued by the Professional Regulatory Commission.
“Satellite Comelec offices are also set to be established to accommodate the expected volume of registered voters who will validate their registration records,” the Comelec said.