Comelec registration resumes

By Maricar M. Calubiran

New voters and transferees can now register with the nearest office of the Commission on Elections as it resumes its registration in accordance with Comelec Resolution 7463.

The registration is until December 31, 2006. The ongoing registration is in preparation for the barangay, local and congressional elections in 2007. The registration should have started June 13, 2005 but it was declared as non-working holiday relative to the celebration of the 107 th celebration of the Philippine Independence Day.

Those who recently turned 18 and eligible to vote in the next election can now register in the respective Comelec office. Voters who want to transfer their registration to other places can also process their documents. Registrants are required to their pertinent documents. Voters who want to amend entries in their registration are given the chance to make the necessary changes in the continuing registration.

The Comelec Resolution 7463 contains the rules for the continuing registration and the use of the data-capturing machine to establish a clean, complete and permanent list of voters. The commission suspended the continuing registration due to budget constraint and problems on the use with the use of the data-capturing machine. The registration with the use of the data-capturing machine was implemented before the conduct of the 2004 national and local elections.