Comelec adds more hours on weekdays, Saturdays in NCR, other areas for voter registration

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Saturday said it will extend voter registration hours up to 7 p.m. on weekdays and add Saturday schedules in the National Capital Region and other select areas.

The voter registration on Saturdays however will only be up to 5 p.m.

Aside from NCR, the other areas where this will be implemented beginning October 16 are:

• municipalities of Alcala and San Quintin in Pangasinan;
• Tarlac City and the municipalities of Capas and Concepcion in Tarlac;
• all municipalities and city in Quezon Province;
• Labo, Camarines Norte;
• Castilla, Sorsogon; and
• the cities of Cebu, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu in Cebu Province.

Meanwhile, the following areas will also have Saturday registration on October 16 and 23, but weekday registration will still be from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.:

• municipalities of Anda, Sto. Tomas and Sual in Pangasinan;
• municipalities of Aringay, Balaoan and Caba in La Union;
• all cities and municipalities of Ilocos Sur; and
• municipalities of Balatan, Bula, Cabusao, Goa, Lagonoy, Libmanan, Magarao, Minalabac, Ragay, Sagnay, San Fernando, San Jose, Tigaon and Tinambac in Camarines Sur

"The rest of the country will follow the registration days and hours of Mondays to Fridays, 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. However, registration will be conducted on the last day, October 30, 2021, which is a Saturday," the Comelec said.

"To reiterate, all types of application will be accepted, not just those that may come from first-time registrants," Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said.

The Comelec said the last leg of voter registration will be held mostly in areas which can accommodate a higher number of registrants such as in select malls of Robinsons Malls, Ayala Malls and SM Supermalls.

Gymnasiums, other commercial establishments and other big spaces may also be designated as satellite registration sites.

The last day of voter registration was supposed to be on September 30, but this was extended to a two-week period from October 11 to 30, 2021. —KG, GMA News