The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Wednesday approved the 20-day extension of the period for voters to register for the 2022 national elections.
The Comelec set the 20-day extension from October 11 to 30.
The ongoing voter registration will end on September 30, 2021 and will resume a few days after the filing of certificate of candidacies by those who will be running in the 2022 polls. The filing of candidacies will be from October 1 to 8.
However, during the 20-day extension, there will be no voter registration during the weekends except for the last day of registration, which is October 30.
Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez earlier said the Commission en banc was set to announce the decision after its scheduled session on Wednesday.
“The matter of extension of voter registration will be taken up by the en banc tomorrow, the 29th of September 2021,” he said in a statement. “After consultation with Comelec officials, and in consideration of the public clamor, it is likely that an extension of the period of voter registration will be granted.”
Top Comelec officials discussed in a management committee on Monday the clamor to extend the registration period beyond the deadline. After the consultation, the committee had submitted its recommendation to the poll body’s seven-man panel.
On Monday night, the House of Representative and Senate unanimously approved a measure to extend the voter registration deadline for the May 2022 national and local elections for another 30 days.
With 193 affirmative votes, the chamber approved House Bill 10261, which proposes to fix the last day of registration of voters for the 2022 polls.
The bill was approved unanimously third and final reading by the Senate and House of Representatives.
