Maasin registered voters now
over 43,000
By BONG PEDALINO (PIA Southern
Leyte)
January 15, 2007
MAASIN CITY, Southern Leyte
– The number of registered voters from this city that are due to cast their
votes on May 14 elections this year may hit over 43,000 individuals, an increase
of 3,000 plus from the 2004 list.
This was learned from Ronnie
Segovia, a key staff of the City Commission on Elections (COMELEC), in an
interview during the program “Kapihan sa PIA Live sa DYDM” Friday, January 12.
Segovia said that as of the
last day of the marathon poll listing last December 31, those who were already
within the 30 meters vicinity were given priority numbers and they were duly
attended until last Friday January 5.
But quite a number of
prospective new voters, especially students, no longer showed up, so they cannot
participate for this year’s political exercise.
The cumulative number of
voters, old and new, was estimated by Segovia to be around 44,000, but after a
mandatory purging of the list to eliminate those who died, among others, the
figure may settle at about 43,000, Segovia said.
Included in the cleansing
process of the voters’ list were those who inadvertently registered twice.
Segovia explained that some
voters committed double registration and this cannot be helped because the
people thought that they need to register as voters for Maasin although they
were already qualified voters in other places.
But those who mistakenly
listed two times can easily be detected in the computer so their names can
readily be deleted,
Segovia added.
In a related development,
Segovia also announced that by January 14 up to July 12 the election period will
already be upon us, and with this the law authorities are expected to carry out
restrictions on carrying of firearms, otherwise known as the gun ban.
The ban period also applies to
other things like hiring, movement of personnel, and some public works projects
may also be affected, he added.
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