Quezon City Rep. Anthony Peter Crisologo is proposing the temporary use of an electronic voters’ registration system amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
He filed House Bill 7746, which he says is designed to create an electronic voters’ registration, amending Republic Act 8189 or the Voter's Registration Act of 1986.
Crisologo, a House assistant majority leader, says the COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected the people’s mobility and the safety of human interactions.
He says the objective of HB 7746 is to equip the Commission on Elections with a strategy that could help promote the use of available resources to ensure that, notwithstanding the circumstances, the state would be able to safeguard the voters’ suffrage rights.
The bill, Online Voter's Registration Act of 2020, if passed, would be an alternative electronic mode of registration in response to potential national critical situations restricting the movement of people and the conduct of personal transactions.
It will only be used temporarily under a national emergency during the period of registration.
“The government has continuously campaigned for the protection of the rights of the Filipino people and has relentlessly encouraged the people to exercise voting as one of their civic duties,” Crisologo said.
“But with the ongoing health crisis that the country is currently experiencing, various challenges continue to emerge that may impede the participation of many individuals in the coming elections.”