The Commission on Elections in Negros Oriental said there will be no extension of the deadline for the registration of voters on October 31 this year.

Provincial Election supervisor Eddie Aba said this is because the National Printing Office has to start early the printing of ballots for the mid-term election next year.

The COMELEC town and provincial offices are expected to submit the list of clustered precincts immediately after the Oct. 31 deadline, for the printing of ballots for the Precinct Count Optical Scan machines, he added.

Aba said COMELEC is giving enough time for voters to register, adding that the list-up started months ago and going on even on Saturdays and holidays.

He admitted, though, that the registration in Negros Oriental was interrupted after a dozen election officers and assistants were deployed from July 5 to 31 to the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao to help in the special poll there.

Aba said they expect a 10 percent increase in the number of registered voters for the 2013 election, with at least 800,000 voters compared to around 700,000 in the 2010 poll.

He added that the registration will be suspended from October 1 to 5 during the filing of certificates of candidacy of those running for various posts next year.*JFP

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