Only 63% of Pinoys validated to vote – SWS

If elections were held today, only 37.4 million Filipinos, or just 63 percent of adults, would be validated or allowed to vote, a new Social Weather Stations poll found.

A validated voter has been registered and has had his or her biometrics taken—a photograph, fingerprint and signature. Only validated voters will be allowed to vote in the May 2016 elections.

According to the SWS poll, there are about 9.4 million validated voters in Mindanao (69 percent), 7.4 million in Visayas (64 percent), 16.6 million in Balance Luzon (63 percent), and 4.1 million in Metro Manila (50 percent).

Some 17.8 million Filipinos or 30 percent were registered but not validated as of the end of 2014, while 4.5 million or eight percent had not registered.

Comelec spokesman James Arthur Jimenez told the business newspaper BusinessWorld that there were 49.7 million registered voters, and voters have until Oct. 31 for validation.

Jimenez added that 4.7 million voters had not had their biometrics taken as of end-January.

The SWS poll was taken from November 27 to December 1, 2014, using face-to-face interviews with 1,800 adults. The poll had sampling error margins of ±2% for national percentages; ±6% each for Metro Manila, “balance Luzon” and Mindanao; as well as ±3% for the Visayas.

The poll results were posted on the BusinessWorld website

Registered, but unvalidated

The poll found that Metro Manila had the highest proportion of registered but unvalidated voters at 39 percent (3.3 million); Balance Luzon at 31 percent (8.3 millon); Visayas, 29 percent (3.3 million); and Mindanao at 22 percent (3 million).

Also, the proportion of unregistered voters was highest in Metro Manila at 11 percent (about 920,000); Mindanao with 9 percent (1.2 million); Visayas at 7 percent (850,000); and balance Luzon at 6 percent (1.6 million).

The proportion of validated voters was higher in rural areas at 67 percent, compared to 58 percent in urban areas.

On the other hand, the proportion of unvalidated voters was 33 percent in urban areas and 27 percent in rural areas.

The proportion of unregistered voters was 9 percent in urban areas compared to 6 percent in rural areas.

Socio-economic class, gender

By socio-economic class, the proportion of validated voters was highest at Class E at 68 percent, 63 percent among Class ABC, and 61 percent among Class D.

In contrast, the proportion of unvalidated voters was highest in Class ABC with 36 percent, 32 percent in Class D and 22 percent in Class E.

The proportion of unregistered voters was highest in Class E at 10 percent, 7 percent in Class D and 1 percent in Class ABC.

By gender, a higher proportion of women had been validated at 64 percent, compared to 61 percent of men.

The proportion of unvalidated voters was 31 percent among men and 28 percent among women.

The proportion of unregistered voters was 8 percent among men and 7 percent among women. — Joel Locsin/DVM/KG, GMA News