The Commission on Elections-Davao (Comelec-Davao) officially kicked off voter registration on Monday in the lead up to next year’s midterm elections.
Lawyer Gay Enumerables, assistant regional director of Comelec-Davao, said during Kapehan sa Dabaw at SM City Davao on Monday.
“Today is the official start of continuing voter registration. The last day will be on September 30, 2024,” Enumerables said.
Enumerables also mentioned Comelec’s Register Anywhere Program (RAP), which also started on Monday.
RAP is a one-stop shop for voter registration. Registrants will no longer confine to their local Comelec office. Under RAP, voters can register to vote regardless of his/her current residence at designated sites across the country.
“The Comelec has a program called the Register Anywhere Program (RAP). May mga RAP register sites in the highly urbanized cities and lahat ng capital towns all over the Philippines,” Enumerables said.
Enumerables said RAP is available in Davao City’s three districts, Tagum City in Davao del Norte, Nabunturan in Davao de Oro, Mati City in Davao Oriental, Digos City in Davao del Sur; and Malita in Davao Occidental.
RAP sites will handle various voter registration needs, including new registration – first-time voters can now register conveniently; transfer of registration – moving to a new location; overseas to local transfer; correction of entries – fixing any mistakes in your voter information; change of status – update your details if you’ve gotten married or changed your name; and reactivation – if your registration has been deactivated, you can reactivate it at a RAP site.
“If you are from Davao City and you want to transfer your registration sa ibang place, you don’t need to go to that particular place para maka-transfer ng registration mo. You just visit our office in Davao City kasi highly urbanized city ito so anywhere diyan sa tatlong districts you can visit there and apply for registration. Kunyare i-transfer mo ang registration records mo doon sa Manila, punta ka lang dito kasi you are from Davao City and you can ask for a transfer,” she added.
RAP also aims to break down barriers and make it easier for Filipinos to exercise their right to vote in the 2025 mid-term elections.
“For new registrants, if you want to register somewhere in Baguio, pero andito ka sa Davao ngayon you can just visit our office in Davao City and then you can apply for registration kung saan mo gusto magpa-register,” Enumerables said.
Enumerables also announced that Comelec declared February 12 as Comelec National Voters Day.
