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Hi, my name is Johnne Denzel F. Nicoleta, I will be discussing the importance of voter’s registration and
the voter registration process.

On May 9, 2022, the Philippines will hold the next national elections, the nation citizens are given the
power to vote for who they want to lead the nation for the next ten years.

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All citizens 18 years old and older are eligible to vote. But given this, there is an alarming number of
things we need to discuss; roughly, only half of the total population is registered to vote. And in which
case, not even all of the people from that statistic actually go out and vote.

But why is our situation like this? And how has it affected our country? Let us unfold and understand the
country’s voting situation.

Our government is a democracy, a form of government where our leaders are voted by us. The power to
determine who will lead our country given to us, the citizens. We apply this power to all levels of the
government during the elections; from our mayors to our president.

Each voter is eligible to vote only once, and has the choice to fill up the whole ballot to its limit of
possible votes per position or to vote abstain to every position up for grabs. Every citizen that fits
eligibility can sign up to vote.

The criteria to eligible to vote according to the constitution must be following:

One must be a citizen of the Philippines

One must be at least 18 years of age ( except for sangguniang kabataan elections);

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One must resided in the Philippines for at least one year, immediately preceding the election

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One must have resided in the place where he or she propose to vote at least six months, immediately
preceding the elecottion
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One must not be disqualified by the law

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You may ask why do we need to be registered? To put, we need to register so that votes can be properly
accounted for and we can avoid multiple votes from single person. This is also to monitor if the voter fits
the criteria to vote.

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So how exactly can one register to vote?

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For the pre-registration stage, remember to look for the COMELEC Satellite Center nearest to your area.
Try to schedule an appointment one week before the day you plan to register and of course to print and
fill out all the copies of the registration forms.

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Now at the registration proper stage, you would need of course to submit the forms accomplished to be
reviewed and once reviewed, your application will be logged into election registration board system

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Second is to have your biometrics taken, like photos fingerprints and digital signature, and a COMELEC
personnel will collect the acknowledgment receipt attached to your registration form

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Now after registration, you would need to wait for the confirmation of your registration but this process
takes a while so you might want to apply as soon as possible and of course to stay updated the current
events and developments in candidates so that you can form a well-educated vote come election-day.

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We can change the fate of our country if we vote and support the right people. By voting we are taking
the extra steps to care for ourselves and the people around us.

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So please do register to vote and of course vote wisely, we are all counting on you