Over 49 million voters in 2010 polls, says Comelec

More than 49 million have become eligible for voting in the 2010 elections so far, more than four million higher than in the polls two years ago, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said on Thursday. Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal told reporters that as of the last count, registered voters had reached 49,271,492. In the 2007 elections, there were 45,029,443 registered voters. The number is still expected to rise since there are 22 more municipalities that have yet to submit their reports to the poll body Larrazabal said the municipalities had failed to submit their reports mostly due to the failure of the Election Registration Board, which decides which voters are qualified, to meet on time. Meanwhile, Larrazabal said there are currently 37,062 voting centers and 74,427 clustered precincts. Each clustered precinct will have one precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machine, which can accommodate up to 1,000 voters. Each clustered precinct will also have at least three Board of Election Inspectors. The Comelec said it would tap about 245,000 teachers to serve as election inspectors in next year’s polls. — Kim Tan/RSJ, GMANews.TV