Comelec: Continuing voter registration set from July 4 to 23, 2022

The Commission on Elections en banc has set the resumption of continuing voter's registration from July 4 to 23, 2022, acting poll body spokesperson Rex Laudiangco said Thursday.

Laudiangco explained that the continuing voter's registration will be held in less than a month under Republic Act 8189 or the Continuing Voter's Registration Act prohibits voter registration within 120 days prior to the elections.

The next Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) is set for December 5, 2022.

Laudiangco said there are post-registration activities and requirements that the poll body has to process before the next elections.

"Roughly starting August 7, prohibited na. Therefore, we only have July 24 to August 6 to Post/Publish names of voter registration applicants; Calendar/Set the Election Registration Board (ERB) Hearings; Subject registrants to database verification; Conduct said ERB Hearings; Draft and Approve the Project of Precincts; Cluster established precincts as may be necessary," he said.

While the Comelec is expecting the conduct of the next BSKE in December, some lawmakers, including House Majority Leader Martin Romualdez, who is poised to be the next Speaker, backed the postponement of the local polls.

Romualdez said the government could save P8.141 billion if the BSKE will be deferred.

Former Comelec Commissioner George Garcia, whose appointment was bypassed by the Commission on Appointments, earlier echoed Romualdez's statement, saying that postponing the December 2022 barangay and SK elections would save the government a lot of money.

Should the elections be deferred, this will mark the fourth time that Congress will postpone the barangay and SK elections since October 2016.

The October 2016 barangay and SK polls were postponed to October 2017. From then, it was postponed to May 2018. It was again reset to May 2022.

Unlike the national and local elections, which have been fully automated since 2010, the 2022 barangay and SK elections would be a manual election. — RSJ, GMA News