Postponement would mean another round of voter registration, says Comelec
(Eagle News) – A committee of the House of Representatives approved the proposal to postpone the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) to December next year.
The House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms voted on Tuesday, August 16, to move the elections from the original schedule on December 5, 2022 to December 4, 2023.
With a vote of 12-2, the House panel members approved the proposal to postpone the elections to December next year.
-P5 billion additional expenses-
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said that postponing the barangay and SK polls for another year would mean an additional expense of P5 billion, including that for another round of registration of voters.
This would mean more new voters would be able to vote in the 2023 barangay and SK polls.
Comelec chair George Garcia said that the postponement of the polls to December 2023 would mean having additional voters, printing more ballots, and having additional teachers, precincts and election paraphernalia.
He said that this would “entail additional cost.”
“If we factor the increase in honoraria expense for our teachers, it would be an additional P5 billion,” Garcia said.
There were still many Filipino youth who had failed to register in the last voter registration, according to various reports.
More than 30 bills have been filed at the House of Representatives seeking to postpone the December 2022 elections.
(Eagle News Service)