‘No Bio, No Boto’ COMELEC TELLS 4.3-M VOTERS; REGISTRATION DEADLINE OCT. 31

By Anne Fernandez

InterAksyon.com, The online news portal of TV5

MANILA – About 4.3 million Filipino voters have not had their biometrics taken, a requirement to vote in the 2016 elections, the Commission on Elections said Monday, urging them to do so as the October 31 validation deadline is four months away.

In a phone interview, Comelec spokesman James Jimenez warned: “Comelec reminds everyone that without biometrics, even registered voters cannot vote in 2016.”

He said Comelec offices nationwide are ready to accept validation and registration applicants from Sunday to Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Comelec has recently installed registration and off-site validation centers in shopping malls to serve those who have yet to validate their registration.

Under the biometric system, voter’s information including picture, fingerprint, and signature are recorded on the Comelec database. These are used to purge multiple registrants from the final voters’ list.

On election day, voters must first validate their biometrics before they can cast their votes.

Jimenez said Comelec will be “aggressive” in pursuing its “No Bio, No Boto” campaign, which is a condition of Republic Act 10367, or An Act Providing For Mandatory Biometrics Voter Registration, which was promulgated on June 26, 2013.

The law provides that registered voters whose biometrics have not been captured shall submit themselves for validation in order to establish complete lists of voters with complete biometrics data for the May 2016 national and local polls.

Voters, Jimenez said, who would fail to submit themselves for validation shall be deactivated and will only be able to apply for reactivation of their registration records after the May 2016 elections.

Appeal from Malacanang

On Saturday, Presidential deputy spokesperson Abigail Valte appealed to all Filipino voters to avoid last-minute validation and registration.

“Let us all go out and find time to have your biometrics done,” Valte said.

“So it will lessen the problems that we normally face during elections. So please, let us not wait until the last week, the last three days, and last day, and even the last two minutes for your biometrics to be taken,” she added.

The registration period for new and old voters started last May 6, 2014 and it will end on October 31, 2015.