Kabataan party-list representative Terry Ridon (centre) and two youth leaders show copies of the petition they filed at the Supreme Court seeking to extend the voters’ registration until the first week of January 2016.
Manila Times
Manila
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said yesterday that it has no plan of extending the nationwide voter registration, which is set to end today.
The Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez noted that they were trying to accommodate those who wanted to register and had their biometrics taken, but the volume of people was just too many.
He also said that the commission had not received a copy of the petition filed by Kabataan Party-list representative Terry Ridon before the Supreme Court (SC) to stop the poll body from enforcing the October 31 deadline.
In a 22-page petition, the group also asked the High Court to compel the poll body to extend the voter registration to Jan 8, 2016.
Meanwhile, Commission on Elections Employees’ Union (Comelec-EU) appealed for understanding and patience from the public. “We barely have enough time to eat and even respond to nature’s call while on duty at registration centres, and yet we are berated and scolded daily by registrants who came in the last-minute. We are doing our best to accommodate everybody. So please spare Comelec employees,” the group said in a statement.
They noted that the voter registration process, which will end today, will run from 9 am until 9pm.
The nationwide voter registration started on May 6, 2014.
