Lack of info, bad weather blamed for low turnout in PWD voter registration; July 20 2014 By: VERA Files Henry Salac, a PWD who works at the Persons with Disabilities Affairs Unit of the City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO) in Zamboanga, said his office did not receive the Comelec memo and that he found out about the special registration only from the Internet. Private vehicles, not barangay vehicles, ferried the registrants in Zamboanga City. In various offices of the Commission on Elections nationwide, the same story played out as the country marked Sunday the National Registration Day for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs): Only a handful showed up to register as voters, and in some places none at all. The low turnout was blamed on poor information dissemination by the poll body, the destruction wrought by typhoon “Glenda” in many parts of Luzon earlier in the week and heavy rains spawned by typhoon “Henry” that came on the tail of Glenda. But election officials said they were optimistic that more PWDs will register in the weeks ahead as the continuing voter registration will end on Oct. 31, 2015. Others said a number of PWDs had registered before Sunday. The National Council on Disability Affairs earlier asked the Comelec to conduct special registration for PWDs on July 20 to coincide with the National Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation Week. Registration for new voters and those reapplying for reactivation or updating of their records in compliance with the biometrics law is ongoing. Under Republic Act 10367, the Mandatory Biometrics Voter Registration Act of 2013, voters who fail to update their biometrics data can’t vote in the 2016 and subsequent elections. (VERA Files is put out by veteran journalists taking a deeper look at current issues. Vera is Latin for “true.”)
Posted on: Mon, 04 Aug 2014 05:27:12 +0000
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