Comelec eyes early voting sans legislation

Early elections may be conducted in certain parts of the country or for certain groups this year even without legislation, a Commission on Election (Comelec) official said on Thursday. Comelec Commissioner Armando Velasco raised the possibility after Congress failed to ensure the approval of such proposal before adjourning session last Wednesday. “Pinag-uusapan namin yan sa amin although nakikita namin na it’s better for us na magkaroon tayo ng law on that," Velasco told reporters in an interview after the House oversight committee's hearing on the automation of the May elections. (We are discussing that, although we think it's better if we have a law on that.) He said the poll body would likely release a decision on the possibility of early voting for certain groups “in the coming days." Velasco believes the “extraordinary" powers of the Comelec during the election period would enable them to implement early voting among certain groups or in certain areas when necessary. “Kung it would be impossible for Congress nga to issue or to make a law for early voting then we will make a decision without a law, kami na ang gagawa ng resolutions na magkakaron tayo ng early voting," he said. (If it there will be no legislation then we will make a decision without it. We’ll make the resolutions for it.) Last week, the House of Representatives approved on third and final reading House Bill 6928 which, if enacted, will allow members of the media to vote within seven working days before the elections this year. The Senate, meanwhile, approved on final reading last Monday a bill allowing early voting in certain areas and of certain sectors, including the media, detainees and uniformed jail personnel. The two chambers, however, failed to work on a single piece of legislation on early voting before they adjourned session to give way to the electoral campaign period. Lawmakers who attended the last day of session in the Senate and the House on Wednesday were not even enough to constitute a quorum in each of the two chambers, disabling Congress from acting on pertinent issues such as the C-5 ethics case in the Senate and the Freedom of Information bill in the House. The Comelec had earlier said that it wants early voting in politically tense areas areas such as the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. - KBK/RSJ, GMANews.TV