Comelec to manually delist 700,000 multiple registrants

The elections on May 10 may be automated, but the delisting of the more than 700,000 double or multiple registrants will be done manually, according to the Commission on Elections (Comelec). In an interview with reporters Tuesday, Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal said election officers would be instructed to manually cross out the names of the 704,542 double or multiple registrants discovered in the official list of voters. Comelec Resolution 8791, which was issued early March, said the poll body's Information and Technology Department found 156,133 multiple registrants in the National Capital Region; 47,016 in Cavite; 34,557 in Davao del Sur; 32,030 in Nueva Ecija; 28,663 in Rizal; 23,602 in Cebu; 20,107 in Laguna; 21,758 in Pampanga; 18,800 in Negros Occidental; 15,783 in Iloilo; 14,734 in Pangasinan; 14,637 in South Cotabato; and 13,413 in Batangas. "Before election day, they will already been stricken out," Larrazabal said. He said they have to manually strike out the names of the multiple registrants because they have already printed out the election day computerized voters list (EDCVL) that will be used in the May 10 elections. Larrazabal the multiple registrants would still be able to vote. "We are delisting them in their second or third registration where they are not supposed to vote," he said. The Comelec are also set to create a watchlist that would prevent suspected double or multiple registrants from voting more than once in the May polls. Larrazabal said the list would help the Board of Election Inspectors (BEI) determine the right precinct for a multiple registrant to vote. Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said they would also create a webpage called "Alma's Death List" where the public can report deaths in the process helping them cleanse the list of voters. "Alma" is Spanish for soul. The poll body officials made the announcement after the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting reported that there are more than 40,000 double registrants in Davao City and Davao del Sur while militant watchdog Kontra Daya said that the voters' list for the May polls is padded by five million. A total of 50,723,734 Filipinos are qualified to vote in the May polls. - Kimberly Jane Tan/KBK/RSJ, GMANews.TV