With quarantine restrictions due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) has urged the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to extend voter registration to enable more Filipinos to exercise their right to suffrage.
The Comelec’s voter registration is set to end on Sept. 30, and no extension has been announced so far.
“Together with the Senate, Congress, and other civil society organizations, the Commission on Human Rights joins the call to extend the deadline of voter registration in the Philippines,” CHR spokesperson Jacqueline Ann de Guia said in a statement.
“The ongoing implementation of enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) and modified ECQ in many locations around the country due to Covid-19 puts a lot of toll and delays in the whole voter registration process in the country,” she noted.
De Guia said the CHR understands that the proposed extension may further delay the preparatory activities of the poll body, but she stressed that eligible voters must be given the opportunity to register safely and to avoid any case of voter disenfranchisement.
“Given the current health and economic crises that we are confronted with, reasonable accommodations must be provided for individuals that experience difficulty in lodging their applications,” she said.
De Guia lamented that there have been reports that registrants endure long hours of queuing while others complain that there is a cut-off time in different polling precincts with varying number of slots to be accommodated.
“Some also expressed that they lack the financial means to travel from their places of residence to designated precincts. These expressed barriers must be addressed by the government,” she stressed.
Citing the Supreme Court case of Kabataan Party List vs. Comelec (G.R. No. 189868, 15 December 2009), the CHR said that SC ruled “that voters be allowed to register daily during regular offices hours, except during the period starting 120 days before a regular election and 90 days before a special election.”
“If solely based on this decision, the Comelec has the prerogative to set the deadline of voter registration before 09 January 2022,” CHR pointed out.
The CHR lauded Comelec for doing vital adjustments to accommodate the restrictions caused by COVID-19 such as establishing satellite registration centers in shopping malls; extending the voter registration hours; reactivation of voter records who were not able to vote in the last two years, among others, De Guia said.
“he Commission believes that the Comelec could do more by extending the deadline of voter registration for at least a month after the 30 September 2021 deadline. It would encourage people to register and would enable them to fully exercise their constitutionally-recognized fundamental right to suffrage and political participation,” she added.