Commission on Elections (Comelec) Mountain Province election officer John Paul Martin said Friday the office is conducting a second round of off-site voter registration in barangays and schools to ensure no voter is left behind as the deadline nears.
“We will do a second round of offsite registration because we have seen that these activities were able to catch and register more voters than waiting for them to come to our offices,” he said.
Martin noted that records from the start of registration in 2025 until January showed that the 10 municipal election offices registered only 649 voters.
However, with increased satellite registrations in schools and barangays, the office added 2,133 registrants in February and another 1,307 in March.
The office also signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to join barangay assemblies for registration and voter education.
“We had full-blast off-site registration, and we are doing that until the deadline on May 18 because we want to make sure that all those who are eligible to cast their votes can do so,” Martin said.
He noted that the province’s mountainous topography poses a challenge for registration and voting.
“We bring the services to them. It does not just entail travel from the offices but also walks and treks from 30 minutes to four hours. We want to ensure we get the residents to register, which will also encourage them to cast their votes,” he said.
Martin added that registrants aged 18 to 24 are advised to run as candidates for the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan to ensure elective positions are filled.
“The certificates of candidacy are ready to be filled up and can also be downloaded. We are releasing them this early so those who decide to run can start completing documents, such as the birth certificate, which is a new requirement,” he said. (PNA)