Comelec strikes 3M voters from rolls

By: Jocelyn R. Uy - 9 years ago

SATELLITE REGISTRANTS From serious shopping to getting serious with their voting rights, these mall-goers fill up Commission on Elections (Comelec) forms at a Taguig mall yesterday. The Comelec set up satellite registration booths in several malls yesterday to reach out to more voters as part of its preparation for the May 2016 national election. EDWIN BACASMAS

Voters register in one of the satellite sites of the Comelec in preparation for the May 2016 national election. The Comelec is removing three million names from the voters list after these failed to have their biometrics taken. EDWIN BACASMAS / PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has ordered the deactivation from the voters’ list of some three million voters who failed to have their biometrics taken during the 17-month registration period for the 2016 balloting.

In a resolution dated Nov. 3, the commission scheduled Election Registration Board (ERB) hearings on Nov. 16 to hear any objections to the deactivation of the registration of voters who did not undergo the validation process.

Local election officers have been directed to post the list of voters without biometrics and the notice of ERB hearings in their offices and city, municipal and barangay halls.

Those on the list can also expect individual notices from their local election officer, Comelec said.

“Any opposition or objection to the deactivation of records shall be filed not later than Nov. 9,” added the resolution.

The Comelec said the conduct of the deactivation hearings will be summary in nature. “The ERBs shall, based on the list of voters without biometrics data, order the deactivation of registration records on the ground of ‘failure to validate,’” it said.

Latest partial records from the election body showed there were three million voters who had no biometrics data.

The Mandatory Biometrics Registration Act of 2013 provides that voters who fail to submit for validation prior to the May 2016 elections shall be deactivated from the voters’ list and shall not be allowed to vote.

Biometrics data refers to the automated identification of an individual, particularly through his or her photograph, fingerprint and signature, as captured by the Comelec’s Voter Registration Machine, a desktop computer equipped with a digital camera, fingerprint scanner and signature pad.