Comelec stumped by huge voter registration turnout; won’t extend registration

Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA—Commission on Elections Chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. said Wednesday the commission was baffled  by the deluge of would-be voters wanting to register for the October 28 barangay (village) and Sangguniang Kabataan (youth council) elections.

Brillantes said they were trying to determine whether those who joined the long lines outside Comelec offices on Wednesday—there was a reported stampede in Manila—to beat the deadline were actual first-time voters or if they were transferees “herded” by candidates.

And because the Comelec suspected that wily candidates might be behind the large turnout, it decided not to extend the registration deadline, which was on Wednesday, he added.

“There is something wrong why there are so many registrants when we just finished an election less than two months ago,” Brillantes said in an interview. “Why are there so many registrants? We already have 52 million registered voters. Why would it increase by so many? There’s no reason why there should be so many registrants.”

Brillantes dismissed suggestions that the Comelec did not deploy enough personnel or that it had too few or defective computers.

“That’s not true. Our computers can handle this (but) there’s just too many people trying to mess things up,” he said.

The Comelec earlier said that it expected around two million voters “aged 15 and above but below 18 years old” to register for the SK elections.

“Our expectation was that many would register for the SK but not regular voters above 18. But look at the lines (yesterday)…. Do they look like they are voting for the SK. They’re not,” Brillantes said. “They look like regular voters. What’s this? Didn’t they vote last May?”

He said many of those who braved the rains in Metro Manila might have wanted to transfer to another precinct to vote for their barangay candidate or erroneously believed that “they had to register again.”

“The problem could be that they wanted to transfer to another barangay so that they could vote for their barangay captain (but that) is not allowed because you won’t have the six-month residency requirement if you start moving only now,” Brillantes said.

“So, all of that will be rejected. We will check whether these are transferees or new registrants. If they are new registrants, we have a big problem,” he added.

Brillantes pointed out that 52 million voters already registered for the national midterm elections in May.

“Why then would we have this many registrants above 18 (years old)? If they are transferees, meaning they voted on May 13, why would they transfer when it is just July?” Brillantes said.

He explained that, under Comelec rules, transferees should stay in their new residence for six months before they can change precincts.

“But it hasn’t been six months (since the May elections). It’s just more than 60 days,” Brillantes said.

He said that if it turned out that most of those who lined up were transferees, it could mean that they were herded into the election offices by candidates for the barangay elections.

“That’s why we don’t want to give an extension anymore. We will even shorten it if they try to mess things up,” Brillantes said.