52-M voters sign up for May polls

A total of 52.8 million voters registered for this year’s mid-term polls, including those who joined the list-up overseas.

The number rose by 2.03 million from 50.85 million in the 2010 polls.

The Commission on Elections-Precincts and Voting Center Division analyst Elisa Canete said 51,898,906 voters registered in the country, while 988,384 signed up as overseas absentee voters. The Foreign Affairs department said 398,554 were new registrants.

The new figures surpassed the total number of registrants in 2004, which chalked up 364,187 OAV, followed by 2007 with 143,236 and 2010 with 235,950.

The Overseas Absentee Voting Act of 2003 allows qualified Filipino citizens residing abroad to vote for president, vice president, senators and party-list representatives.

In the breakdown per region, Region 4 or the Southern Tagalog area posted the highest number with 8,757,625 registered voters followed by Metro Manila with 5,995,865 and Region 3 (Central Luzon) with 5,822,678.

The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao posted 1,288,562 registered voters, down by more than 500,000 compared to the old list of 1.7 million.

The Comelec actually recorded 1,567,409 new voters during the July 9 to 18, 2012 registration period in ARMM but the commission discovered double and multiple registrants and subjected them to Automated Fingerprint Identification System process.

ARMM is composed of the provinces of Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.

The new figures also surpassed the total number of registrants in 2004, where it only listed 364,187 OAV; followed by 2007 with only 143,236; and in 2010 with 235,950.

The elections on May 13 will elect 12 candidates for senators, the highest elective positions available.

The total number of elective government positions at stake total 18,053, including 59 partylist representatives, 233 congressmen, 80 governors and 143 mayors. A regional governor, a vice governor and 24 assemblymen will be elected in the ARMM.

The Comelec and the National Police earlier identified a total of 889 election “hot spots” or election watch-list areas in 15 provinces, majority of which were found in the Ilocos Region, 88 in the Eastern Visayas, and 83 in the ARMM.

The provinces considered as high-risk areas were Abra, Pangasinan, Cagayan, Ilocos Sur, La Union, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Batangas, Cavite, Masbate, Samar, Misamis Occidental, Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur and Basilan.

The PNP identified the “hot spots” or potential flash points based on election violence during and outside the election period, political rivalry, the presence of private armed groups and other threat groups and the proliferation of firearms. –Joel E. Zurbano, Manila Standard Today