Get rid of mañana habit, Comelec tells voters

Thanks to the Supreme Court for ordering the extension of the voter registration period, 18-year-old Joserie Mae Fernandez was finally able to register for next year’s elections. “Hindi po ako umabot nung unang registration. Sayang po yung chance na bumoto," Fernandez said before she had her biometrics taken at the Manila Election Unit of the Commission on Elections (Comelec). Fernandez is just one of the almost two million new voters expected to register during the extended registration ordered by the SC. Voter registration originally ran from December 2008 to October 31, 2009, but following the SC’s decision, the Comelec opened up its centers for registration on December 21. The Comelec has yet to release the number of voters who have registered during the first few days of the extended listup, but election officer Rosalinda Abia-Radin of Manila’s third district said the turnout so far is good. So far, so good “Tumataas dahil vacation, may time na sila mag-register (The number of registrants is increasing because it’s vacation, people have time to register)," she said, adding that she hopes more voters will register. She told GMA News that they had 77 registrants on the first day of registration (Dec. 21) and 113 the next day (Dec. 22). As of 1:30 p.m. Wednesday (Dec. 23), they had already accommodated 55 registrants. Comelec spokesman James Jimenez had earlier said that the average number of registrants is 150 a day. Radin said that most of the registrants are youth, given that the Comelec said priority would be given to first-time registrants over those who want to reactivate or transfer their registrations during the extended registration period. However, Comelec Commissioner Nicodemo Ferrer said that registrants should not “abuse" the extension that was granted by the SC. Mañaña habit “They should get rid of the mañana habit. Ganyan tayo. Nagdadagsaan sa last. (We’re like that. We flock to registration centers on the last day)," he told reporters on Wednesday. The poll body said it would post the list of the new applicants on January 4, giving the registrants until January 6 to file an opposition to any of the other registrations. By January 9, he said the Election Registration Board (ERB) will begin their hearings to weed out ineligible registrants. “You are not a registered voter unless you pass the ERB. Before the ERB takes cognizance of application, (there’s) posting," said Ferrer. Earlier, the Comelec said it will not be printing any additional ballots, making these new registrants like “chance passengers." Comelec Chairman Jose Melo said the poll body would not produce extra ballots aside from the ballots that are scheduled to be printed on January 25 based on the number of voters that had registered prior to the SC ruling. There are over 49 million registered voters as of December 10. The ratio of ballot to voter was supposed to be one is to one. Jimenez, however, clarified that additional voters could still vote if there would be “spare" ballots on election day, relying on the usual low voter turnout during the polls. - KBK, GMANews.TV