The Commission on Elections (Comelec) office in the Negros Island Region (NIR) is continuing preparations for the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) in December while awaiting the decision of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to approve or veto its postponement.
“So far, what has been deferred is the registration of voters originally scheduled from July 1 to 11, but other activities continue, such as the inventory and procurement of yellow ballot boxes,” Comelec-NIR Director Lionel Marco Castillano said on Thursday, June 26..
He said the “enrolled bill” on the postponement of the 2025 BSKE passed through both houses of Congress and has been transmitted to Malacañang, and the President has 30 days to act on it.
He noted that while awaiting the Chief Executive’s decision, the poll body continues with the inventory and preparation of the yellow ballot boxes as “we do not want to be caught flat-footed” in case Marcos vetoes it and the December election pushes through.
The procurement of additional yellow ballot boxes for the manual voting continues but the Comelec will not yet award the bid winner until the President decides on it, he added.
Initially, the Comelec is looking at the last week of October after the BARMM parliamentary elections for the registration of voters for the BSKE, Castillano said.
Meanwhile, the Comelec official said the number of clustered precincts for the BSKE would increase, as only 400 voters will be accommodated per precinct.
This is one of the preparations undertaken by the Comelec regardless of whether the BSKE will happen this year or next year.
In the May 12 mid-term polls, each clustered precinct was assigned 1,000 voters, Castillano said.*PNA