Delayed release of voters’ list won’t impact Eleksyon 2022, Comelec assures public

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Monday assured the public that the delay in the release of the certified list of voters for Eleksyon 2022 won’t affect the upcoming polls.

“Hindi naman po (It will not affect the polls),” Comelec Director III of the Education and Information Department Atty. Ellaiza Sabile-David said at the Laging Handa briefing when asked if the delay would cause problems on the day of the elections.

She explained that the poll body is in the process of removing voters who have multiple registrations and those who already died.

“So kailangan pong linisin at kinakailangan na ma-delay ang paglabas ng voters' list. Marami pa pong prosesong pagdadaanan [ito],” she added.

(We need to clean the list. Hence, the delay in the release of the voters' list. This list needs to undergo many processes.)

At the same briefing, David said most of the voters belongs to the 30-59 years old age group or those who are in the “mid-range.”

According to Comelec Resolution 10965 which contained the calendar of activities for the May 9 elections, the posting of certified list of voters is set for February 8.

However, the Comelec issued another resolution last January 26, moving the deadline of the posting of certified list of voters to March 29.

According to the resolution, the delay in the posting of the voters’ list was “due to the delay in the delivery of the continuous forms, A4 papers, and toners needed by the field offices in the printing of [Posted Computerized Voters Lists] and [Election Day Computerized Voters Lists] printing by the Information Technology Department.”

In compliance with Section 30 of Republic Act No. 8189 or The Voter’s Registration Act of 1996, the Comelec is mandated to prepare and post the certified lists of voters 90 days before a regular election and 60 days before a special election.

In December, Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said the poll body is expecting 67.5 million voters for Eleksyon 2022. This number includes domestic and overseas voters. — RSJ, GMA News