2.7M Pinoys seek inclusion in voters’ list

More than 2.7 million Filipinos filed their applications to be included in the voters’ list in the recently concluded four-month voters’ registration period of the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said the election registration boards (ERBs) in each town and city were still in the process of hearing and approving the applications for voter registration.

Data from the poll body showed that 2,764,745 Filipinos filed their applications for voter registration from November 7, 2016 to April 29, 2017.

“We expected only about 2.5 million. The satellite registrations helped a lot, both in terms of awareness and in actual registration turnout,” Jimenez said on Monday.

He credited the Comelec’s field offices, officials and personnel on the ground for the successful registration period for the 2017 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections.

Of the 2.7 million applications for registration, 705,570 or about 26 percent were youth voters aged 15 to 17 years old.