THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) said Friday, September 27, it expects an influx of applicants during the final two days of voter registration period for Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan polls.
In a statement, Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said they expect applicants to flock to city or municipal offices of the election officer (OEO) on Saturday (September 28) and Monday (September 30).
"Applicants are advised to proceed to the OEO in their city or municipality, or any satellite registration center in their locality, where they intend to vote, and present at least one valid ID," said Jimenez.
"Tomorrow is the last Saturday of voter registration, while the last day is on a Monday. So, an influx of registrants is to be expected," he added.
Nevertheless, the poll body assured the public that it is ready to accommodate applicants looking to become registered voters.
Under Section 6 of Comelec Resolution 10549, procedures to be observed on the last day of voter registration have already been set.
The rules provide that if there are still applicants lined up to register within the 30-meter radius from the OEO by 3 p.m. of September 30, their names will be promptly and consecutively listed down.
Each name in the list will then be announced repeatedly three times in the order the names were listed.
Applicants who are not present when their names are called shall no longer be allowed to file their application.
When an applicant’s name is called and he/she is present, his/her application will be processed and his/her biometrics data will be captured.
The process continues until all those listed shall have been processed, said the Comelec.
"The Comelec has anticipated this, and we are confident that our employees in the field are prepared to handle the last-day registration scenario," Jimenez said.
As of September 21, Comelec data show that 2,645,446 applications for voter registration have already been filed nationwide.
The voter registration period started back in August 1, 2019. (HDT/SunStar Philippines)