The Commission on Elections (Comelec) announced Monday that it extended for another week the deadline for registration of local absentee voting (LAV) in the May 2010 polls as a result of the low turnout of applicants this year.

The LAV, which will take place on April 24 to 26, covers government officials and employees, including military and police personnel, members of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, and Bureau of Corrections.

They can avail of the LAV in the eventuality that they are temporarily assigned to perform election duties on election day in places where they are not registered.

In a media briefing, Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal said the Comelec en banc decided to set a new deadline in order to accommodate
more applicants availing of the local absentee voting.

“Even teachers can vote on or before the election day as long as they are registered,” the commissioner told reporters.

Based on the guidelines issued by the Comelec, those who will avail of the LAV must file their application forms to their department heads who will submit it together with a certified list of their personnel to the poll body

The committee will then verify the eligibility of the local absentee voters.

As of March 7, Larrazabal said the number of LAV applicants climbed to 6,000 from 1,000 who have registered as absentee voters.

But still, the poll body said influx of applications is slow, if it is compared to the 40,000 registered absentee voters in the previous elections.

Meanwhile, the report on 40,000 multiple registrants in Davao City and Davao del Sur is blown out of proportion, said the Comelec.

Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal said he recently met with poll officials in the region and they discussed the alleged padded voters’ list.

“Based on the investigation, there appears to be blowing up of the issue. It was blown out of proportion,” he said in an interview.

Larrazabal said they have documents to prove that the alleged padding is not true since they were already able to cleanse the voters list.

“If you look at the records, there was a cleansing and there are steps taken by the Comelec to ensure that those with multiple registration will only be able to vote once,” he said.

The poll official then appealed to groups to be careful when issuing statements especially when it comes to a serious matter such as the elections.

“I hope people realize that this is a serious matter. You just don’t throw figures around as if you’re not serious. When you say there are so many double registered voters, that’s a very serious matter. We hope when people make those statements, they realize its implications,” Larrazabal said.

It was recalled that the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) earlier revealed of uncovering some 40,000 multiple registrants in the posted computerized voters’ list (PCVL) in Davao City and Davao del Sur.

The Comelec is set to meet with the PPCRV and other concerned groups on Wednesday to discuss the matter. (With a report from Leslie Ann Aquino)