No reason to postpone 2022 elections: Comelec’s Jimenez

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said Monday that there is no reason to postpone the 2022 elections in the country amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We have started our countdown dahil alam natin na matutuloy ang halalan. Walang dahilan para hindi matuloy ang halalan,” Director and Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said in a DZBB interview.

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(We know the election will proceed. There is no reason why it should be postponed.)

“We expect that we will hold the elections in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, that herd immunity is not yet assured at that point,” Jimenez added.

Jimenez said Comelec increased the number of precincts for the 2022 elections, from 84,000 in 2019 to 110,000 for next year so social distancing would be observed.

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He added Comelec would expand absentee voting, allowing Filipinos to vote ahead of election day, only that this is limited to casting a vote on those running for national posts.

No reason to postpone 2022 elections: Comelec’s Jimenez

“Ang namumuro ngayon ay ang pag-expand ng absentee voting. This is a privilege given to government employees who perform election day service and to the members of the media, but we are looking at expanding it to vulnerable sectors such as those persons with disabilities and senior citizens,” Jimenez pointed out.

(It seems that we are going towards expanding coverage for absentee voting.)

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“That way, we will be able to decongest the polling places and the task will be manageable,” he added.

Jimenez clarified that mail-in voting is not yet viable at this point since the Philippine postal system is not yet modernized enough to send and receive ballots nationwide in time.

“Postal voting for overseas absentee voting has long been in place because it uses the postal system of the host country [where the OFW is]. But here [in our country], the modernization of our postal system is still in midway and we don’t see it done in time for the 2022 elections,” he said.

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