Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 27) — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Thursday set new dates for the reopening of the voter registration for the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE).
Voter registration will be open from Dec. 9, 2022 to Jan. 31, 2023.
Overseas voters who want to cast their vote in the BSKE need to transfer their registration from overseas to local. They have until Jan. 31 to file their application at the Office of the Election Officer in the locality where they intend to vote.
The poll body decided to reopen the registration after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed into law the bill postponing the BSKE from December this year to October 2023.
Comelec Chairman George Garcia told CNN Philippines he expects up to five million individuals will register, bringing the number of voters from the current 66 million to around 71 million.
Comelec spokesperson Rex Laudiangco explained only less than two months is allotted for the registration to allow the poll body to verify and cleanse the list of voters by removing double and multiple registrants.
Pilot run of more convenient registration
The Comelec en banc also laid down the operational plan for the initial testing of the Register Anywhere Project.
It will be piloted in five malls in Metro Manila to allow eligible Filipinos to register in places other than their residence.
It will be conducted every weekend from Dec. 10, 2022 to Jan. 29, 2023, except for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve, and New Year’s Day.
The submitted documents and captured biometrics data will be endorsed and transmitted to the city, municipality, or district with jurisdiction over the residence of the applicant.
