Comelec to deactivate nearly 100,000 voters in region

By FROILAN GALLARDO
Contributor

THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) is set to deactivate 98,883 registered voters after they failed to beat the biometrics registration deadline in Region 10 last week.

Comelec-Misamis Oriental director Carlito Ravelo said this would included some 11,436 registered voters in Cagayan de Oro who failed to make to register at Robinsons Supermarket at Limketkai Mall and other poll centers during the Saturday deadline.

Ravelo said the deactivation is set this coming Nov. 19 when the Election Registration convenes in Cagayan de Oro.

“The high number of voters who failed to beat the deadline in Cagayan de Oro is understandable because it is a highly urban center and a melting pot for people in northern Mindanao,” Ravelo said.

He said the list of unregistered voters might have included those who recently died or have transferred to other highly urbanized cities.

Ravelo said despite the deactivation, Northern Mindanao, which is composed of the provinces of Bukidnon, Camiguin, Misamis Oriental, Lanao del Norte and Misamis Occidental have 2,546,596 voters as of Oct. 30, 2015.

The number of voters who failed to beat last Saturday’s deadline was high in Lanao del Norte with 40,329 voters; Bukidnon,  26,690 unregistered voters; Misamis Oriental including Cagayan de Oro, 18, 882 unregistered voters; Misamis Occidental, 11, 162 unregistered voters and Camiguin, 1,890 voters.

The ERB that will convene on Nov. 19 will also decide whether to accept or not the voters who registered from Oct. 1 to 31.

Ravelo said up for validation are some 36, 174 new voters in Cagayan de Oro.