The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) said today that it is ready to accommodate applications for registration from Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) on August 11, 2012, which the poll body has set as National PWD Voter Registration Day.
COMELEC Commissioner and PWD voting rights champion Rene V. Sarmiento thus called on all qualified PWDs nationwide to make use of the occasion and troop to the COMELEC Office nearest them or to designated registration sites in their area to register or update their records so they may vote via accessible polling places in the May 13, 2013 National and Local Elections.
Comm. Sarmiento, however, clarified that the registration period for PWDs is not limited to just one (1) day as some sectors aver. The National PWD Voter Registration Day was originally slated last month, in conjunction with the celebration of the National Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation Week, explained Sarmiento. But the poll body had to reschedule to give way for the conduct of the General Registration of Voters in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). Voters’ registration in all Non-ARMM areas was temporarily halted last month to focus on the ARMM poll-list up.
“The National PWD Voter Registration Day on August 11 is a special day for our PWDs,” said Sarmiento. “On that day, we honor our PWD voters as we highlight our shared efforts to ensure that no PWD gets left behind when it comes to their right to suffrage.”
He noted PWDs may file their application for registration from August 1, 2012 until October 31, 2012.
To afford PWDs equal access to electoral processes, the COMELEC on June 29, 2012, promulgated Resolution no. 9485 calling for the “establishment of accessible polling places and providing other forms of assistance for PWDs in selected voting centers on election day to ensure that they enjoy the right to suffrage on equal basis with others.” ###
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