A candidate for councilor of Bacolod City has aired her vehement objection to the Commission on Elections Office in the city for the conduct of extended registration that only applies to new voters.

In an affidavit she executed, Em Ang claimed that the extended registration effectively disenfranchised her right to reactivate her status as eligible voter, and deprived her of the right to register until Jan. 9, 2010. She also said she was not given due process when her registration was cancelled without prior notice.

Ang is running under the banner of the Nationalist People's Coalition, a party led by Mayor Evelio Leonardia in Bacolod City .

Caesar Distrito, Ang's legal counsel, yesterday said his client had applied for the reactivation of her voter's registration on Dec. 21, 2009 but was refused and was told that the extended continuing registration only applies to new voters, which is in clear contravention to the ruling of the Supreme Court.

In her affidavit dated Dec. 28, 2009, Ang said she had registered on Dec. 21, 2003 under the continuing and computer registration, and that she is a registered voter of precinct 0681-A of Barangay Mansilingan.

She said that she personally checked her voter's registration status on Sept. 9, 2009 and again on Nov. 30 before she filed her certificate of candidacy, and found it active.

Ang said that it was only when she filed her COC that she was informed by the COMELEC-Bacolod that she had been deactivated due to failure to vote for two consecutive elections (May 2007 and 2007 Barangay elections).

She said that she was surprised to learn of the matter, considering that under the law, a concerned voter should first be sent a notice to give him/her time to file an application for reactivation with the local COMELEC office.

Ang said she went to the COMELEC-Bacolod on Dec. 21, considering that the Supreme Court issued a ruling extending the voter's registration until Jan. 9, 2010 based on the Continuing Registration Law. She said she was refused and was told that the coverage of extension only applies to new voters, which she said, is contrary to the ruling of the Supreme Court.*CGS

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