EARLY VOTING. An elderly casts his vote in the May 9, 2022 national elections. Cagayan de Oro City (2nd District) Rep. Rufus Rodriguez on Thursday (June 15, 2023) urged the Senate to pass the Early Voting Bill ahead of the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections on Oct. 30 this year. (PNA file photo)
MANILA – Cagayan de Oro City (2nd District) Rep. Rufus Rodriguez on Thursday urged the Senate to pass the Early Voting Bill, following the plan of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to pilot test early voting for vulnerable sectors for the Oct. 30 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE).
“I suggest that our beloved senators make the approval of our House Bill No. 7576 allowing early voting for senior citizens, persons with disability (PWDs), pregnant women, and other vulnerable sector members their top priority shortly after we reconvene on July,” Rodriguez said in a statement.
He said it is important for Congress to approve the bill soon so it could be sent to President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. for signing into law ahead of BSKE to preclude any legal issues should the Comelec pushes through with its planned pilot-testing of advance voting.
“If the measure is enacted into law in early August, that would give the Comelec about three months to prepare for and conduct an information campaign on early voting,” he said.
The Comelec has not yet announced when it would conduct the pilot-test.
The House of Representatives, led by Speaker Martin Romualdez, is supporting the proposed law that would “provide voting convenience to members of our population who need it.”
HB 7576, which is principally authored by Rodriguez, was approved by the House on the third and final reading last May 8 by an overwhelming vote of 259 with no negative vote and no abstention, and was sent to the Senate on the same day.
Under the measure, senior citizens, PWDs, lawyers and human resources for health shall be allowed to cast their ballots at accessible establishment designated by the Comelec within seven working days before the date set for local and national elections.
It mandates the Comelec to conduct a nationwide registration for senior citizens, PWDs, lawyers and human resources for health to qualify them to avail of this early voting privilege. Those who are not registered under this Act shall vote with the rest of the eligible population on election day.
The poll body is also directed to launch an information campaign on early voting, and to ensure that voting precincts for early voters are safe and accessible. (PNA)
