Comelec stumped by huge voter registration turnout

Commission on Elections Chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. yesterday said the commission was baffled by the deluge of would-be voters wanting to register for the October 28 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections.

Brillantes said they were trying to determine whether those who joined the long lines outside Comelec offices on Wednesday 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, 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 allegations 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.

In Cebu, provincial election supervisor Marco Lionel Castillano said they have processed over 65,000 registrants for the barangay elections and about 127,000 registrants for the Sangguniang Kabataan elections.

He said they were able to prevent a riotous last day as what happened in Metro Manila and elsewhere by ordering all Comelec offices in the province to declare an early cut-off once the number of applicants reach the limit.

Castillano said each data capturing machine can only process 250 registrations per day.

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 nationwide.

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

Transferees or new registrants?

Brillantes said many of those who braved the rains 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 last 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.

PPCRV appeal

The Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) yesterday joined calls for the Comelec to extend the voter registration.

PPCRV Chairman Henrietta De Villa said the Comelec may have to reconsider its earlier decision not to stretch the allotted time for voters to register since long lines at Comelec offices were preventing eligible applicants to enlist for the elections in October.

“I have received many calls informing me about the long lines because they said the Comelec can only accommodate up to 500 registrants a day so a lot of people really have yet to register,” De Villa said.

“I really think the Comelec must extend the voter registration but I don’t know how prepared they are,” she added.

Mañana habit

While De Villa said the usual mañana habit of Filipinos has contributed to the long queues at Comelec offices, she also noted that the sudden surge of registrants, especially on the last day of registration, was brought about by partisan practices among barangay officials.

“Barangay officials have become very partisan,” she said, disclosing reports that “vested interest groups” were busing large crowds to Comelec offices to discourage legitimate voters from enduring the long registration lines.

She also received reports that there were people being used to line up early to fill up the limited slots for registration as a way of precluding other legitimate voters to sign up.

“These vested interest groups were said to fill up at the last minute the 500 [slots], which the Comelec can only attend to per day,” said De Villa.

“Some of these people in line really have no intentions of registering. They are just there to see to it that the others identified with another party will not be accommodated,” she added.

Barangay officials

Earlier, the Comelec said there was nothing wrong with incumbent barangay officials supposedly bringing in registrants to Comelec offices in exchange for money, food and transportation as long as they did not meddle with the enlistment procedure.

“Technically speaking, we don’t see any problem on that regard. If you want to help your constituents by bringing them to the registration centers, that is fine,” stated Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez.

However, barangay officials cannot interfere once the applicants they gathered are already inside the Office of the Election Officer, he pointed out.

“The rule of the thumb is barangay officials should not meddle in the registration process,” he stated. /Inquirer with a report from correspondent Peter I. Romanillos