MAY 31, 2011

NR # 2421

House passes bill seeking to cleanse the national voter’s list

The House of Representatives has approved on third and final reading a measure
cleansing the national voter's list from multiple registrants to curb cheating and ensure the
results of elections are reflective of the genuine will of the people.

Rep. Susan Yap (2nd District, Tarlac), one of the authors of House Bill 3469, said
those who shall be submitted for validation are voters registered as of May 10, 2010
national elections and those who will register under Republic Act 8189 otherwise known
as the “The Voter’s Registration Act of 1996” without biometrics data.

Yap said the city and municipal Election Officer, through the use of Data Capturing
Machines (DCMs), shall conduct the validation process by taking the biometrics of voters.

“Registered voters shall submit for live capture his or her photograph, fingerprint
and signature through the use of DCMs before the EO of the city or municipality,” Yap
said.

Rep. Rufus Rodriguez (2nd District, Cagayan de Oro City), another author of the
measure, said an automated general registration will help the Commission on Elections
(COMELEC) to nullify all existing registrations, purge the padded old voters’ list and
come up with a new computerized certified voters’ list that is free from double or multiple
registrants.

“By doing this, it will ensure an honest, clean and credible election, plebiscite or
referenda. It is hoped that cheating during electoral exercises would be a thing of the
past,” Rodriguez said.

Under the measure, the COMELEC shall implement, in a uniform and

nondiscriminatory manner, a single, official, centralized, interactive computerized voter
registration list defined, maintained and administered by the Commission.

The computerized list shall serve as the single system for storing and managing the
official list of registered voters throughout the country.

The bill also provides that the computerized list contains the name and registration
information of every legally registered voter and assigns a unique identifier to each legally
registered voter.

Likewise, the computerized list shall be coordinated with other agency databases.
 The bill mandates any authorized election official, including any local election
official, to obtain immediate electronic access to the information contained in the
computerized list.

Furthermore, all voter registration information obtained by any local election

official shall be electronically entered into the computerized list on an expedited basis at
the time the information is provided to the local official.

Under the bill, voters who failed to submit for validation on or before the last day of
filing of application for registration for purposes of the 2013 national and local elections,
despite due notice, shall be deactivated from the registration record of the voters by the
Election Registration Board.

Those deactivated may apply before the ERB for reactivation with simultaneous
validation and the applicant, if eligible, shall be included as a matter of right in the
Registration Record of Voters.

Co-authors of the measure include Reps. Elpidio Barzaga, Jr. (4th District, Cavite),
Maximo Rodriguez, Jr. (Abante Mindanao, Inc.), Andres Salvacion, Jr. (3rd District,
Leyte), Francisco Emmanuel Ortega III (Party-list, Abono), Neri Colmenares (Party-list,
Bayan Muna), Rex Gatchalian (1st District, Valenzuela City), Ana Cristina Go (2nd District,
Isabela), Lord Allan Velasco (Lone District, Marinduque), Karlo Alexei Nograles (1st
District, Davao City), Rodante Marcoleta (Party-list, Alagad), Pedro Romualdo (Lone
District, Camiguin), Antonio Diaz (2nd District, Zambales), Walden Bello (Party-list,
Akbayan), Dante Antonio Tinio (Party-list, Act Teachers), Reynaldo Umali (2nd District,
Oriental Mindoro), Simeon Datumanong (2nd District, Maguindanao), Victor Ortega (1st
District, La Union) and Erico Aumentado (2nd District, Bohol). (30) lvc