Comelec stops Sunday registration of voters in provinces

FILE PHOTO by Noy Morcoso/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will no longer hold voters’ registration in the provinces during Sundays.

Comelec Chair Sixto Brillantes, in a recent interview, said the commission en banc has agreed to call off Sunday registration, except in Metro Manila, because not many people in the provinces had been going to Comelec offices to register for the 2016 national and local elections.

“We will stop the regular registration during Sundays except in highly urbanized areas here in the National Capital Region,” said Brillantes, explaining that many Metro Manila residents would usually register during their day-off.

“Here in Metro Manila, many go to Office of the Election Officer (OEOs) to register because those working (during the weekdays) register on Sundays,” he added.

He said the poll body would just give the Regional Election Directors (REDs) the options to alter the work week in their respective jurisdictions.

“We are giving the REDs an alternative when they want to open registration. They can do Sunday to Thursday or Monday to Friday. We are giving them the discretion,” said Brillantes.

Another option, he added, would be for election officers in every city and municipality in the provinces to hold satellite registrations.

“In communities where we need many individuals to register, we can just hold satellite registrations. We want to capture our voters in areas they frequent during Sundays, such as in poblacions, churches or markets,” Brillantes said.

The Comelec earlier set the voter registration from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. until October 31, 2015 in all OEOs nationwide.

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