Philippines Election Commission Urges Biometric Voter Registration

With 2013 elections looming on the horizon, the Republic of the Philippines Commission on Elections has urged old and new registrants to visit the election office in their municipalities for biometrics registration. The Commission argues this is one of the crucial steps in ensuring integrity of future election results.

Currently, there is a standing house bill requiring the voting public to submit themselves for biometric fingerprint updates. Each registrant will then be given a “unique identifier” and individual information will be stored in a database. There will be a single system for storing and managing the official list of registered voters throughout the country. This validates the registration records and prevents multiple registrants, who are usually the cause of electoral fraud.

In preparation for the 2013 election, the election office is open to accommodate new registrants, those who want to reactivate their names in the list of voters, or those transferring to other voting places and make necessary corrections to their entries.

Mobile registration is likewise implemented by the regional office in order to reach old and new voters in far-flung areas who cannot afford to travel to register.

Borris Maria Banaoag, election registrar, said: “If this House bill will be approved, those who have not validated their records and submitted themselves for biometrics cannot exercise their right of suffrage.”

Article Topics

biometrics  |  civil ID  |  elections  |  fingerprint verification  |  identity management