A year before the 2022 elections, the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) assures it will still push through despite the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

The talks on the upcoming local and national elections in 2022 resurfaced following Senator Imee Marcos call for early planning and preparations to ensure that voters’ participation while observing health and safety protocols. 

The poll body said among the adjustments is the opening of more polling areas to prevent crowding in precincts.

“Middle of February a lot of our resources and personnel will be already on site, kasi nga kailangan natin accommodate ang (because we need to accommodate the) 14-day quarantine requirement,” COMELEC Spokesperson James Jimenez stated.

Jimenez added that the longer duration of the election than the previous two to three days is expected due to the pandemic.

Meanwhile, the emergence of troll accounts and foreign interference behind the spread of disinformation in social media are considered possible issues in the 2022 elections.

Last year, over 155 accounts and 11 pages with more than 100,000 followers were removed by Facebook due to “inauthentic behavior.”

Marcos also raised concern on the inclusion of some anti-government organizations as fact-checkers.

The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) assured they have the tools to detect perpetrators of misinformation but they “would need that proper mandate to do an investigation because the cybersecurity bureau does not have the law enforcement jurisdiction.”

As of January 7, the COMELEC has received 1,050,793 applications since the registration period resumed on September 1, 2020.

The poll body estimated to receive some four million new registrants for the May 2022 national and local elections while around one million Filipino voters are expected to file their applications for reactivation.

(Source: PTV News)

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Haven’t registered yet? The nationwide voter registration is conducted every Mondays to Thursdays from 8 AM to 3 PM until September 30, 2021. Check out COMELEC iRehistro now available for voter’s registration and learn how to register online.