THE COMMISSION on Election (Comelec) XI on Wednesday said the registered voters in the region for the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) decreased by around 27,000 due to multiple registrations.
Meanwhile, the office is already prepared for the barangay and SK elections in October this year.
Speaking in yesterday’s AFP-PNP press briefing held at The Royal Mandaya Hotel, Atty Gay Enumerables, Comelec XI assistant regional director, and spokesperson, said the registrants for the barangay elections dropped by 21,000 while their master list for the SK election shrunk by 6,000.
“Those [voters] that were hit in our office due to double multiple registrations,” Enumerables said.
This happens when the voters transferred locations without officially notifying the Comelec by changing their addresses. Sometimes, they also applied as new registrants because they changed addresses, which can cause duplications in the system.
The number of registered voters for the barangay election is 3,350,146 and 1,095,015 for the SK, with a total of 4, 445,161 voters in 1,444 voting centers.
In Davao Region, there are a total of 1,162 barangays, 21,627 precincts, and 9,558 clustered/groups precincts.
“But you have to take note that the SK and Barangay voters slightly overlapped because the regular voters are aged 18 and up while the SK is 15 years old to 30, so there is an overlap from 18 to 30 years old,” she added.
The campaign period for Barangay and SK election will start from Oct. 19 to Oct. 28, while the election period will start on Aug. 28 to Nov. 29. The filing of COC is on Aug. 28 to Sept. 2. Finally, the election day on Oct. 20 from 7 am to 3 pm.
The age requirement for running in the SK election is only 18 to 24 years old exactly on election day.
“For now we are done with verification on certification and sealing of the list of voters, and our supplies had arrived yesterday (Monday). First, the augmentation of the yellow ballot boxes because the old ones are damaged already, and then forms and supplies,” Enumerables said.
She added, “The barangay and SK election will follow the manual voting just like in the previous (years).”
She further said they monitored no hotspot areas in the region but they have yet to meet with the police and military.
