Thursday, December 04, 2008 Glitch delays Comelec list-up By Carlo P. Mallo
A TECHNICAL glitch in one of the data capturing machines of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Davao City delayed the registration of voters for a couple of hours last Tuesday.
Hundreds of people thronged to the district offices of Comelec on Tuesday for the start of the registration period, which will run until December 15, 2009.
In an interview Tuesday, Lacsasa Casar, election officer of the third district, said the start of the registration in their office was delayed due to some technical glitches experienced by their data capturing machines.
"Matagal gumana ang camera ng machine, kaya nadelay kami," Casar said. (The camera did not work at the start, which is what caused the delay.)
However, everything else moved smoothly as soon as the camera started to work.
Another concern of Casar is the district office's small space, which is not able to accommodate more than 50 people at a given time.
Nonetheless, Casar welcomed the hundreds of people who flocked to the district offices of Comelec in the city on the first day of the registration period.
"It is a welcome development, as it shows that the people are now willing to take part in the electoral process," Casar said.
He added: "Taas-taas pa ang adlaw para sila maka-rehistro. Pwede sila muadto diri sa bakante nilang oras, pero dili pud kanang hapit na ang deadline (There is still a long period for registration. They can come here and register in their own free time, but it should not be so close to the deadline of registration)."
Comelec Resolution 8514, which was issued by the Comelec en banc last November, has provided that the voters’ registration in time for the 2010 presidential elections will be from December 2, 2008 to December 15, 2009.
The resolution added that applicants should personally file their applications at the Office of the Election Officer in their respective cities and municipalities during office hours on the said dates.
