300 inmates registered to vote in 2013

The Cebu City poll office holds off-site registration at the Cebu City Jail yesterday

AT least 300 inmates of the Cebu City Jail were given a chance to assert their right to vote in the 2013 elections.

This followed after the Cebu City Commission on Elections (Comelec) held an off-site registration at the city jail in Barangay Kalunasan yesterday.

The off-site registration, conducted from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., allowed first-time voters to register ahead of the Oct. 31 deadline set by the Comelec for voter registration for next year’s election.

In an interview, election officer Atty. Marchel Sarno said Comelec set up two registration desks and capturing machines at the facility.

This was in order to minimize queuing and speed up the whole registration process for inmates, he said.

Sarno said the 300 newly registered inmates form part of the estimated 1,200 population of the city jail.

The activity yesterday was conducted based on Comelec Resolution 9371.

Detention

As for detainees who will be 18 years of age on the day of the election or are committed inside the detention centers for at least six months immediately preceding Election Day, the resolution states that they can also register as voters.

According to the resolution, the voter registration for inmates is open only to those who still await court judgment and excludes those who have already been convicted.

For May 13 next year, the resolution further states that a special polling place will be set up by Comelec for the inmates.