Over 25,000 voters with no biometrics data

Comelec personnel registered data from a registrant in Talisay City Hall in this July 30, 2012 file photo.

More than 25,000 registered voters in Mandaue City risk being turned away from polling booths in the 2016 election because they have no biometrics data on file with the e Commission on Elections (Comelec).

October 31 is the deadline for registration of voters.

Biometrics data includes  a photo and fingerprints of the voter which have to be captured in  the Comelec office.

Mandaue City election officer Anna Fleur Gujilde said they started registration for biometrics data in June last year with more than 40,000 registered voters having no biometrics data.

“We sent CDs to the barangays with  the names of voters who don’t have  biometrics data and asked  barangay officials to notify these people to come and register at the Comelec office,” she said.

They also conducted on-site registrations for Persons with Disabilities (PWD), inmates at Mandaue City Jail and senior citizens in the barangays every Sunday.

“We are calling on those voters who don’t have biometrics data yet to register at the Comelec Mandaue City office. Let us not wait for the deadline on October 31,” Gujilde said.

She said it takes only  30 minutes to process.  The Comelec office is open from Monday to Friday  8 a.m.to  5 p.m. A registrant only needs to bring a valid ID.