Comelec bares final schedule of activities

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has finalized its calendar of activities for the national polls on May 9 next year.

Lawyer Ferdinand Gujilde, Cebu provincial election officer, said Comelec Resolution No. 9981 details the important dates prospective candidates and voters should take note.

Filing of certificates of candidacy is slated on Oct. 12 to 16. During this period, registration of voters will be suspended, but will resume on Oct. 17.

“There will be no extension,” he told reporters yesterday.

The last day of registration of voters will be on Oct. 31.

Election period will begin on Jan. 10 next year and gun ban and other bans on prohibited acts will be implemented.

Campaign period for national level candidates will begin on Feb. 9 while local candidates may start their campaign on March  25.

For next year’s national elections, 18,069 positions will be contested, including that of the president, vice president, 12 senators, and 235 members of the House of Representatives, among others.

Meanwhile, Aug. 31, Monday, is the last day to allocate elective seats for member of the House of Representatives and other local elective positions.

House Bill 4427, which seeks to create a seventh legislative district in Cebu, has yet to be signed by President Benigno Aquino III.

However, Gujilde said that if the president does not sign it within thirty days after receipt, the bill will become a law by lapse of time.

He said that if a new legislative district is formed in Cebu, Comelec will not have much adjustment to do.

“Wala ra kaayoy adjustment, only with the ballots—pila kabuok ang pilianan for the Province of Cebu,” Gujilde explained.

The officer said printing of ballots will be done around November this year.

He added that the filing of certificates of candidacy was moved earlier to give time for the printing.