MANILA: The Commission of Elections (Comelec) in Dagupan expressed confidence that the government has successfully prevented “flying voters” from registering in multiple places to vote more than once in the 2013 elections.
Dagupan City election officer Remarque Ravanzo said that the Comelec’s move to centralise the database of voters can now detect those who attempt to list themselves under more than one residence to add votes to candidates.
The new system also presents data about any registrant and provides fingerprint scanning to match individuals with their registered identities, Ravanzo said during a forum yesterday.
“The biometrics of every person is unique and it could readily determine truthfulness of falsity of representation,” Ravanzo, a lawyer, added.
Having turned down “quite a number” of new registrants that could not present evidence that they reside in the locale, Ravanzo said such registrants could not even give the name of their supposed neighbour or barangay captain.
Dagupan City lists 93,556 voters as of mid-October, while more than 5,000 of which will be deliberated in a hearing on November 15 on whether they qualify.
The Philippine star
