5M register for the first time for barangay, SK polls

MANILA, Philippines – Over 5.6 million registered for the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections set for October 28, with 4.97 million enlisting for the first time.

A total of 5,652,257 applications were logged by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) during the July 22-31 registration period, according to a Facebook wall post by Commissioner Grace Padaca on Saturday, August 3.

Among them, 1,805,917 are new voters for the barangay polls. They will be an addition to the 52,014,648 registered voters who were eligible in the midterm elections last May.

For the youth council elections, which is open to those 15-17 years old, the Comelec recorded 3,162,341 new registrants.

In addition to first-time registrants:

• 519,086 voters transferred and reactivated their registration records from one barangay to another
• 121,367 reactivated their registration after missing the last two elections
• 42,874 made corrections to their records
• 672 requested for reinstatement in the list of voters

For this year’s barangay and SK elections, the Comelec expected only 700,000 potential new voters.

The number of combined new registrants for the barangay and SK polls this year is higher than 3.8 million total new registrants targeted by the Comelec in 2010.

However, Padaca clarified that these applications would still be heard by the Election Registration Board (ERB) before they can be included in the book of registered voters.

The next ERB hearing is set for Monday, August 12. – Rappler.com