Comelec OKs early voting for media workers

The Commission on Elections on Tuesday approved a petition seeking early voting for media workers starting from the 2013 elections in a bid to avoid disenfranchisement over their right to vote come the day of the polls.

 

The decision was read in an en banc session at the Comelec headquarters in Intramuros, Manila.

 

Comelec chair Sixto Brillantes said the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) will be immediately drafted by the poll body, and that these may be done by the end of the year.

 

In the decision, the Committee on Local Absentee Voting was directed to draft the rules for the early voting.

 

Brillantes also said the type of voting may most likely be manual. However, aside from these, no other details have been provided as yet on the early voting.

 

The petition for the proposed activity was filed on April 15 by lawyer Romulo Macalintal, representing a group of media workers from various organizations.

 

In a forum last April, media workers told Comelec Commissioner Rene Sarmiento they are unable to vote every election because of the nature of their work, where they are assigned in areas where they are not registered.

 

Sarmiento then suggested they file a petition for early voting, which Macalintal obliged to do, since he was at the same event.

 

Speaking at the session, Macalintal welcomed the decision, and encouraged media workers to register for the polls so the effort would not go to waste.

 

"Ang reminder ko lang sa members ng media ay tanong niyo muna sa sarili niyo kung nakapag-register na kayo. Baka mamaya hindi naman kayo registered voter ay masayang ang ating ipinaglabang ito," he said.

 

In his petition, Macalintal argued that more than 200,000 qualified voters from 2,139 media outfits in the country are in danger of being disenfranchised unless the Comelec acted on the petition. –KG/RSJ, GMA News