IN A bid to further cleanse the voters' list ahead of the May 2020 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) called on the public to report their relatives or friends who have passed away.
"We would like to reach out to everyone, if you have deceased relatives or friends, please try to coordinate with local offices of the Comelec so their names can be removed from the voters' list," said Comelec spokesman James Jimenez.
He said the information should come with the proof of death.
He said Comelec is not aware that some of the registered voters have died because some died in areas other than their place of registration.
Death certificates are issued in the area where a person died. This leaves the Local Civil Registrar, where the deceased voter was registered, unaware of his or her death.
"For example, a voter is registered in Quezon City but died in Bohol. It will be the Bohol Civil Registry that will issue his death certificate. It will then not reflect in the Quezon City Civil Registry," explained Jimenez.
To note, the Voter's Registration Act of 1996 provides that registration records of those who have died, as certified by the Local Civil Registrar, shall be cancelled.
This will be done with the Local Civil Registrar submitting each month a certified list of persons, who died during the previous month, to the Election Officer of the place, where the deceased were registered.
The call was made on the heels of the start of the voter registration period last Thursday, August 1. Registration will run until September 30. (HDT/SunStar Philippines)