Deactivated voters without biometrics data still need to personally go to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to reactivate their voter registration record.

The Comelec said only those deactivated voters with biometrics data can reactivate their voter registration records via email.

"The law states that you need to have biometrics data in the system. So if you don't have your biometrics in the system, you need to have them taken, which is only possible if you appear in person," Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said on Friday, August 13, during the launch of a campaign aiming to boost voter registration.

Biometrics data refers to the digital capture of the applicant's images, fingerprints, and signatures.

Jimenez said the poll body authorized the online procedure for reactivation amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

"This will involve getting in touch with the election officer via email and then sending in your registration forms instead of bringing it personally to Comelec," he said.

The poll official also said that the reactivation via email will not be limited only to senior citizens and persons with disabilities (PWD).
"This will be available to all voters that were deactivated, especially those in the run up to this particular registration cycle," said Jimenez.

There are 6.3 million voters deactivated for failure to vote in the last two elections.

On Thursday, Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon announced that the En Banc approved the reactivation of PWDs and senior citizens voters who failed to vote in two consecutive elections.

"Reactivation through email and oath before the election officer thru video. Wait for procedure details," she said on Twitter.

Dubbed #STRONGERtogether, the campaign seeks to support PWDs and senior citizens by providing transportation assistances to make accessible Comelec registration sites in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.

“We hope that through this campaign we empower more PWDs to register and participate in our democracy," Tahanang Walang Hagdanan, Inc. (TWHI) Administrative Manager Ramon Apilado said.

The campaign also appeals to young voters to register in exchange for access to a platform that offers job, scholarship, mentorship, and training opportunities.

“This time, besides the usual tone of ‘urgency’, we’ve decided to invest in building relationships and giving them a new reason to register and vote – an incentive to access other opportunities," said Institute for Policy, Strategy, & Development Studies (IPSDI) President Elmer Cruz.

Jimenez believes #STRONGERtogether would greatly complement the ongoing efforts of the commission to increase voter registration before September 30.

“The priority is clear: to get everyone to participate in the elections, and we can only do that if we make voter registration all the more accessible and appealing," he said.