“Men and boys” will be prioritized for voter registration from June 21 to 23.
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is granting this “special registration” in its observance of Father’s Day last June 20, reported the news website Rappler on June 19.
With the registration of voters definitely closing on Sept. 30, 2021, citizens have three months left to do their duty so they can vote in the 2022 elections.
As of June, the Comelec is still shy by two million voters from their target of having 62 million citizens eligible to vote in 2022.
The poll body has surpassed its objective of registering four million new voters, which includes reactivated voters who failed to vote in two successive elections and then reapplied for reactivation.
The continuing registration of voters resumed on Sept. 1, 2020 but the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic caused the suspension of registration in areas placed under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) and modified ECQ (MECQ).
Comelec officials committed to Congress that it will increase the satellite registration offices, many of which were closed due to the pandemic, to boost registration, reported Rappler on June 17.
Last June 15, the Comelec launched the Mobile Registration Form App, a smartphone application that may encourage potential voters and deactivated voters to register by minimizing the inconvenience and health risks of registering in person.
In a June 18 article, Rappler reviewed the Comelec app, pointing out what it can and cannot do.
The Mobile Registration Form App should enable a citizen to electronically file his or her registration and then generate a QR code, which can then be shown when the citizen goes to have biometrics taken at the local Comelec office.
However, the app only works on Android smartphones and can only be downloaded when a citizen goes to a Comelec office in the 575 cities and towns included in the piloting of the Mobile Registration Form App. Comelec officials say the piloting prioritizes areas with limited or zero connectivity since the app will be shared with the applicant through Bluetooth or SHAREit.
The practical value of making the app also available off-site should have been considered by the Comelec. Metro Manila and overseas are not part of the app piloting.
Even without factoring in the high risk of Covid-19 infection, many citizens are daunted by the near certainty of long hours of queuing to have their biometrics taken. The Rappler review did not indicate if citizens can expect to queue again at the Comelec office to have the Mobile Registration Form App shared on their Android smartphones.
The smartphone app, if it had less restrictive applications, would have helped citizens who balk at taking an office leave or being absent for work to register on site. According to the Comelec Resolution 10674, the Office of the Election Officer (OEO) will process applications for registration from Monday to Saturday, including holidays, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
However, only satellite registration offices are open on Saturdays, reported Rappler.
In a June 15 post, the website recorded the difficulties met by citizens using the iRehistro, the online accomplishment of forms for voter registration, which no longer has available slots for appointments for biometric capture, until Sept. 25. From Sept. 26 until Sept. 30, no appointments are open as only walk-in registration is allowed.
Citizens must check with their local Comelec office since some local government units do not use iRehistro and have their own system for setting appointments.
The Comelec has yet to make the full digital leap since registration forms filled in online must still be printed by the applicant and brought to the Comelec office. This involves additional costs and risks from Covid-19 due to possible queuing to have forms printed.
Yet, citizens must hurdle all these to cast their ballot in 2022 for the future of the country.