The Commission on Elections (Comelec) Pangasinan provincial office registered an additional 5,000 to 6,000 voters from mid-August until the deadline on Monday.
These are on top of the 123,000 voters that registered since the start of the registration last February 12 up to August 15, Comelec-Pangasinan election supervisor lawyer Ericson Oganiza said on Tuesday.
“Some election offices in the province have extended until midnight yesterday to accommodate registrants on the final day of registration,” he said in a media interview.
He said registrations done from July to Sept. 30 will still undergo the election registration board’s hearing starting Oct. 14, for approval or disapproval of the applicants.
He said the final list of voters will be released by November this year.
Comelec Pangasinan has exceeded its 75,000 to 100,000 target registrants for the 2025 midterm elections since Aug. 15.
Then Comelec-Pangasinan election supervisor lawyer Marino Salas attributed this to the off-site registrations held in malls, villages, and schools in the province.
“We have already accomplished 100 percent in off-site registration in all the barangays (villages) of the province,” he said.
After the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (village and youth council) elections in 2022, the Comelec cleansed the voters’ list and removed over 100,000 voters who either failed to vote twice, are already dead, or have transferred, Salas said.
As of June 30 this year, Pangasinan has around 2.1 million registered voters.
Meanwhile, Oganiza said they are now focused on the filing of certificate of candidacy (COC), which started Tuesday and will last until Oct. 8.
He said the Pangasinan police are helping secure the orderliness and peacefulness in the Comelec offices.
He reminded aspirants to ensure that they submit complete requirements and data in the COC to avoid problems in the filing.
The first to file a COC at the Comelec provincial office at the Dagupan City People’s Astrodome is re-electionist Board Member Philip Theodore Cruz of the second district of Pangasinan.
Cruz said he opted to file his COC at the start of the filing period to be able to focus on his other commitments. (PNA)
