The Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Cebu will start accepting applications of first-time voters as early as April this year to give them ample time to register for the country’s next set of elections in 2016.
Provincial Election Officer Ferdinand Gujilde said their office is finalizing their preparations for the registration period to accommodate those who plan to “reactivate their registration” after failing to vote in two consecutive elections.
He said first-time voters and applicants for reactivation will have to undergo a biometric scan, a compulsory requirement for all voters in the 2016 elections.
Biometrics refers to the registrant’s picture, fingerprint and signature recorded by a computer during the registration period.
The system was designed to help the Comelec purge the final voters’ list of multiple registrants that were used by politicians in the past to garner more votes in their favor.
Under Republic Act No. 10367, the Mandatory Biometrics Registration Act of 2013, voters who fail to submit their biometrics data for validation before the May 2016 elections shall be deactivated from the voters’ lists.