Philippines on course to meet biometric voter registration target for October polls

A spokesman for the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) of the Philippines Rex Laudiangco says more than one million new voters have enrolled on the biometric voter register, keeping alive hopes of meeting the 1.5 million-target set by the election management agency.

According to the official, a total of 1,024,521 new registrants had been enlisted as of January 17, 2023 ahead of local government and youth council (barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan) elections scheduled for 30 October 2023.

This figure excludes the number of registrants under the Register Anywhere Project (RAP) which was reported at 3,992 as of January 15, the outlet says.

The Register Anywhere program has also been expanded to cover the reactivation of voter credentials for people who have not voted in the previous two elections. Transfers from overseas to local voting and various other applications are also now possible at the program’s booths, according to a government publication.

Philstar in a report earlier this year quoted Rafael Olanio, COMELEC deputy executive director for operations, as calling on citizens who have not yet registered to do so.

“We are inviting those who haven’t registered yet but are qualified registrants for the SK elections as well as regular voters, to go to COMELEC offices. Others have satellites at the malls; just check the website to know the locations,” said the official.

The current biometric voter registration drive started on 12 December but was briefly suspended over the Christmas and New Year break. It will run until 31 January, according to COMELEC officials.

The registration takes place from Monday through Saturday between 8:00am and 5:00pm local time.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  digital identity  |  elections  |  identity verification  |  Philippines  |  voter registration