DAGUPAN CITY, Jan. 29 (PIA) – As the country gears up for the midterm elections next year, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) will set up five voter registration facilities for the Register Anywhere Program (RAP) from February 12 to August 31, 2024.
Lawyer Marino Salas, provincial election supervisor, said “We will set up RAP facilities in COMELEC offices in our cities – Alaminos, Dagupan, San Carlos, and Urdaneta – and in our capital town Lingayen.”
He said, “The aforementioned offices will use two machines – one for ordinary registration and the other one for the Register Anywhere Program.”
Salas explained that under RAP, an individual can register to vote regardless of his current residence at designated sites across the country while ensuring that any duplication of registration is avoided.
Aside from registration for new voters, he said that RAP sites will also accept transfer of registration records; reactivation; change of name or correction of entries; and inclusion of records in the books of voters or reinstatement of name in the list of voters.
He added, “We also have off-site registrations where we go to barangays, especially those in far-flung areas. We also conduct registration at malls, schools, universities, and other public places to make registration convenient; and a special registration initiative for vulnerable sectors such as persons deprived of liberty (PDL), persons with disability (PWD), and senior citizens.”
Salas stated the initiative is to make it easier for Filipinos to exercise their right to vote for the 2025 midterm elections.
The voter registration activity will resume nationwide from February 12 to September 30, 2024, from Mondays to Saturdays, including holidays, except March 28 to 30 for the observance of Holy Week.
Salas urged the public not to wait for the deadline before heading to the COMELEC office to submit the Application Form for Registration (AFR) which can be obtained from the COMELEC office or downloaded from their website https://comelec.gov.ph/ in the voter registration and application forms section.
He added that the registrant must present his Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) identification (ID) or at least one government-issued ID card that has both his photo and signature on it.
“For students, we accept the school ID provided that it shows your picture and signature. We do not accept school certification and police clearance. For those who do not have an ID, we accept the birth certificate,” Salas said.
Salas said COMELEC-Pangasinan targets an additional 30,000 to 50,000 new registrants.
To date, Salas said that there are currently 2,156,000 registered voters in the province.
Likewise, Pangasinan ranks third in the list of provinces with the highest number of registered voters in the Philippines, after Cebu and Cavite. (JCR/AMB/JCDR/JMUT/PIA Pangasinan)
