800,000 have registered for 2018 barangay, SK elections

More than 800,000 Filipinos trooped to local election offices last month to sign up as voters for the 2018 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said a total of 843,588 citizens turned up during the 22-day voters’ registration period, which ended last Nov. 30.

This figure includes 45,927 people aged 18 and above who signed up as regular voters, and 249,925 people aged 15 to 17 who registered as youth voters.

Poll spokesperson James Jimenez attributed the turnout to the Comelec’s information campaign and satellite registration activities.

“This speaks of the accessibility of the process as well as the effectiveness of the information campaign,” he said.

The Comelec initially expected less than 1,150,000 new voters from the recently-concluded voters’ registration period, or 350,000 youth voters and 800,000 regular voters.

“In any case, the outcome is close enough to confidently say that people who wanted to register were able to do so,” Jimenez said.

The 843,588 Filipinos also included 57,008 applications for reactivation of voting status; 18,470 for reactivation with correction of entries; and 62,179 for correction of entries.

Meanwhile, the Comelec received 57 applications for inclusion in the book of voters and 22 names for reinstatement in the list of voters.

Of the 843,588 total applications, 53 percent or 451,681 were females while 391,907 were males.

These will be evaluated by election registration boards (ERBs) all over the country for the purpose of approving or disapproving applications.

The ERBs will then send out notifications of disapprovals, while approvals will be posted at the offices of the election officers.

Those disapproved as voters may file petitions for inclusion, while others contesting the approval of the application of other voters may file petitions for exclusion, Jimenez said.