Comelec conducts special hearing to remove double, multiple registrants for BSKE 2023

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) conducted on Monday, June 19, a special election registration meeting for the purpose of deleting all double at multiple registrants in connection with the 2023 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE). In a statement, Comelec said that the Commission en banc has ordered in connection with the double/multiple registrants in the National List of Registered Voters (NLRV) the following:
* The abatement of Double/Multiple Registrants in the local level (City/Municipal) * The deletion of the original Voter's Registration Records of transferees; within the same city or Municipality (Barangay); to other city or municipality * The deletion of the voter's registration records of deceased persons as reported/confirmed by the Local Civil Registars (per their duly issued Certificate of Death); and * The inclusion/exclusion of Voter's Registration Records per the decisions/orders of the Metropolitan Trial Courts/Municipal Trial Courts/Municipal Trial Courts in Cities
Comelec said that after the hearing, the Election Day Computerized Voter's List (EDCVL) and Posted Computerized Voter's List (PCVL) will be distributed to the Accredited Citizen's Arms Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) and National Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL) for inspection/examination. During a public briefing, Comelec spokesman John Rex Laudiangco said they might repeat this process by July 27. He added that this move was also made to prevent such incidents from happening again. They also plan to file election offense charges against those who deliberately registered multiple times. Based on Comelec's data, they have recorded a total of 498,000 double/multiple registrants. The majority of them, Laudiangco said, switched homes and the one who transferred the data was not able to delete the previous registration, or the voter transferred again, and the old registration still wasn't deleted. On the other hand, he stated that they are investigating around 120,000 since it appears that they were done on purpose. There were those who used a different name and changed their appearance, but since the fingerprints were the same, they were still discovered. "Ang election offense po ay may parusang anim taong pagkakakulong; mayroon pong forfeiture ng right to suffrage, hindi na po makakaboto; at higit sa lahat, mayroong perpetual disqualification to hold public office, so hindi na po sila makakatakbo sa anumang halal na posisyon or appointee position (An election offense has a penalty of six years in prison; there's also forfeiture of the right to suffrage, they cannot vote again; and most of all there's disqualification to hold public office, so they cannot run for any elected position or appointee position)," he explained. He added that there are currently 7,000 cases that have already been signed and ready for preliminary investigation. Laudiangco also mentioned that they are pushing for the “Expanded Automated Biometrics Identification System”. Currently, according to him, the current biometrics system employed only consists of a photo and four fingerprints. But if the legislation pushes through, they intend to add iris scanning.