120,000 Pangasinan voters; no biometrics

By Eva Visperas

DAGUPAN CITY– An estimated 120,000 voters in Pangasinan may not be able to vote in 2016 should they fail to undergo biometric registration.

Lawyer Marino Salas, provincial election supervisor, said the Commission on Elections (Comelec) would implement the “No Bio, No Boto,” which prohibits voters with no biometric data from casting their votes in 2016.

The Comelec said these voters have three months left to comply with the biometric requirement.

Salas said satellite registration centers have been set up in malls to encourage voters to undergo biometric registration.

Comelec offices in the province will remain open on weekends to accommodate voters until Oct. 31.

Salas said they started the biometric registration in May 14 last year.

That time, about 333,000 Pangasinenses had no updated records in Comelec offices in areas where they vote.

The number has been reduced to 120,000.

These voters, Salas said, could have transferred residence, have not voted for two successive elections, or have died.

The vote-rich province has about 1.65 million registered voters as of April.