There will be no voters' registration extension, a top official of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said Thursday, although the Comelec will be open for registrants till 12 a.m. Saturday, October 31.

Lawyer Joan Abucejo-Vallejos, City Election Officer, said there has been no word from the Comelec's main office in Manila for registration to go beyond the October 31 deadline.

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Vallejos said the last two weeks have been hectic for election officials with crowds lining up as early 3 a.m.

The Comelec beginning October 22 had already extended registration hours by four hours, opening at 8 a.m. and closing at 9 p.m.

Last minute registrants Angelica Rose P. Abueva, 18-year-old, and Maricar Chavez, 20-year-old, both of Barangay Calaanan this city, describes what they had to go through yesterday as "lousy, disorganized, and crowded" with people jockeying for position in the long queue in front of the Comelec field office in Burgos Street.

Abueva and Chaves, both first time registrants, had begun lining up at 8 a.m. Thursday. Both completed the process at 1 p.m.

In anticipation of more registrants Saturday, the last day for registration, Vallejo said the Comelec en banc in Manila had further extended the registration hours till 12 a.m.

Vallejos said the Comelec had decided against extending the deadline despite calls for an extension to enable the Comelec to have ample time to prepare election materials and to finalize the list of voters for the country's first automated elections.

The City Comelec had begun registering voters December 2, 2008 supplemented with off-site registrations in various barangays and universities.

Already, Misamis Oriental has topped the list in Northern Mindanao in terms of registered voters.

Latest figures released by the Comelec show that the number of registered voters in the province has so far reached 695,420. This figure includes voters in Cagayan de Oro as well as Ginoog City. (Russel B. Obsioma and Kaye Hazel N. Abao, Liceo de Cagayan University interns)