The Commission on Elections (Comelec) announced there would be no extension of the voter registration period which ends on September 30, 2021and instead decided to extend the registration hours on weekdays and to open on Saturdays and Sundays.
Poll spokesman James Jimenez said the Comelec en banc had “decided against” the extension of the voter registration period, despite calls by some lawmakers.
But Senator Francis Pangilinan called on the Comelec to reconsider their decision to reject calls to extend the voter registration period beyond September 30, 2021.
Stressing that September 30 was a “pre-pandemic” deadline, he urged Comelec to adapt and adjust to the pandemic situation to avoid the disenfranchisement of millions of Filipino voters.
“We regret that the Commission on Elections did not heed the clamor to extend our voter registration period despite the glaring numbers of lost registration days due to the pandemic,” he said.
“We strongly feel that the pre-pandemic deadline is no longer applicable today,” added Pangilinan.
Data show that in 2020, approximately 28.3 percent of days dedicated to voter registration were lost because of suspensions due to Covid. Metro Manila lost 38.6 percent of the registration period.
Jimenez also said that the en banc unanimously approved the extension of voter registration hours, as well as the opening of voter registration on Saturdays and holidays, for the remainder of the voter registration period.
“The En Banc decided against the extension, citing concerns about the timeline of preparations for the 2022 National and Local Elections, as well as significant continuing apprehensions about the health and safety of the public and of their personnel,” Jimenez said.
“We have said so many times before the voter registration period ends on September 30, 2021…and immediately after that there are several activities that are already very critical to the success of the 2022 elections,” he added.
“If we delay the end of voter registration, it will also cause corresponding delays in all other preparatory activities, especially those which depend on the finalization of the list of voters. That will have the potentially adverse effect on the timelines in the preparations for the presidential elections,” he said.
Several senators earlier signed a resolution calling for the extension of the voter registration period.
In 2021, voter’s registration was suspended twice in NCR Plus and other highly urbanized areas.
Pangilinan said four out of 10 registration days were lost during the five-and-a-half-month voter registration suspension in 2020.
“We should make up for this lost time by extending the voter registration period. We have 13.3 million unregistered voters,” he said.
According to Comelec Commissioner Guanzon, the decision not to extend the voters registration beyond September 30 was because of the pre-election work that has to be done including the assigning of voters’ names to precincts by December and the printing of the official ballots by January 2022.
Under Republic Act No. 8189 or the Voter’s Registration Act of 1996, Comelec has the prerogative to extend the registration period as long as it is conducted in a 120 day-period before a regular election and a 90-day period before a special election.
“All of us are trying our best to adjust and adapt to this pandemic. We appeal for the Comelec to do the same and ensure that our people will be able to exercise their right to vote,” said Pangilinan.
Pangilinan, together with other senators, filed a Senate resolution urging the Commission on Elections to extend the deadline for voter registration to October 30, 2021 to prevent voter disenfranchisement brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.
A similar resolution was filed by 15 Liberal Party legislators in the lower house, while former Chair Christian Monsod and former Commissioner Luie Guia of the Comelec have also written the commission to push for the extension of voter registration.