MANILA, Philippines, November 6 ------ While facing investigation and possible criminal suit, the estimated one million double or multiple registrants still have the chance to vote in the May 2025 midterm elections, the Commission on Elections said.
Comelec Chairman George Garcia said only the “subsequent registrations” of multiple registrants will be removed from the official list of voters. “The multiple registrations won’t be removed; the registration is retained even for a double or multiple registrant. The initial registration remains,” Garcia said in a radio interview yesterday. “A person cannot be deprived of his right to vote, as stated in our Constitution,” he added.
According to Garcia, the Comelec has identified around a million double and multiple registrants following the hearings conducted by the Election Registration Board (ERB) from February until September. He said those people, whether deliberately or not, decided to register as voters in another place instead of just transferring their registration. It’s suspicious that the number of registrants in certain areas would unusually increase, prompting the Comelec to investigate. Garcia said double and multiple registrants are common in the National Capital Region and various parts of Mindanao. The Comelec will post the list of double and multiple registrants nationwide on its website.
The poll chief stressed the need for Comelec to purge the voters’ list from double and multiple registrants to prevent those people from voting more than once. The ERB will also call double and multiple registrants to explain their side. Criminal charges will be filed against those found guilty of committing such election offense. Garcia said the Comelec would be able to identify all double and multiple registrants through the Automated Fingerprint Identification System.
Source: philstar.com
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