Due to the pandemic and the subsequent reduction of government office hours, voter registration at the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) has been postponed three times since the implementation of community quarantine. But Spokesperson James Jimenez tells voters anew that it will resume accepting applications starting Jul. 1, Wednesday.
In a tweet reply to a user’s question, Jimenez said “Mag-resume ang #VoterReg2020 sa July 1. #MagparehistroKa.”
This is after the electoral commission announced Apr. 25 that they will have to extend the suspension until Jun. 30.
In a statement, COMELEC executive director Bartolome Sinocruz Jr. said, “The period from May 1 to June 30 will give the Commission time to put in place anti-COVID-19 measures in relation to the conduct of the registration of voters once it resumes.”
With NCR downgraded to general community quarantine, one of the government offices back in skeletal operations is COMELEC. An advisory issued yesterday outlined that despite limited operation, the commission and its offices will not entertain face-to-face transactions. Instead, all transactions will be done via email, letter or fax.
But for other queries, Jimenez shared that they have recently launched a Facebook group called Ask COMELEC, where individuals can lodge their voting-related questions.
Despite GCQ, the threat of the virus remains. In light of this @COMELEC is undergoing a phased resumption of operations, which means there won't be a full staff in the office to pick up the phones. If you have any questions, please post them on https://t.co/OkRYTpIcXz pic.twitter.com/ItErHVYLiv
— James Jimenez (@jabjimenez) June 1, 2020
The group operates under the commission’s Education and Information office. According to Jimenez, questions posted there will help them build “a user-centric knowledge base that will benefit everyone.”
One of the first questions they received through the initiative, Jimenez shared, was on how to get a voter ID. “[This is] proof that we need to jump-start the national ID system soon, or else re-boot the Voter ID,” the spokesperson said in a tweet.
As of writing, anyone can request to join the Facebook group, which was created yesterday.
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