Youth groups hold voters registration project

Different youth groups yesterday launched the "First Time Voters Registration Project" to encourage young Filipinos to register to practice their right to vote, and educate them to vote for the right leaders during elections.

Ernie Edralin, Akbayan-Cebu spokesperson, said the project is the offshoot of the high number of disenfranchised first time voters during the 2001 and 2004 elections.

The project is also a way of preparing the youth for the plebiscite in case Charter change will push through next year, he added.

Edralin emphasized that they want to inform the youth, particularly the first time voters, that the registration for voters for the 2007 elections is only until December 30 this year.

"Young people comprise majority of the voting population. For young people ages 18 to 24 alone, the projected voting population of the National Statistics Office in 2004 is 11 million," the group said in a statement.

It also added that first time voters include those 18 to 21 years old who have not yet participated in the elections of 2004, and those 21 years old and above who have failed to register in the last elections. Each new voter, a Filipino citizen who is at least 18 years old on the day of the elections, needs to register as pre-requisite in voting.

The group cited that five million and two million first time voters were disenfranchised in the 2001 and 2004 elections respectively due to insufficient information for new registrants.

"Our number will show how crucial we are in the next elections. We would like to ensure that we will not have another case of millions of first time voters not having their chance to cast their first vote in 2007," says Edralin.

Earlier this month, the Social Weather Stations released a survey conducted in June that three-fourths of the 18 to 24 years old unregistered voters say that they are unaware of the continuing voters registration.

Edralin said that whether there would be elections or plebiscite next year, they want to inform and educate the youth on how to practice their rights to vote, and how to choose deserving leaders to sit in the government.

By November or December, he added that they would be touring in schools to inform and educate the students in preparation for next year's election or plebiscite.

Edralin said it is possible that there might be plebiscite next year because majority of the legislators are in support of the move to amend the country's Charter.

The project started as national campaign in 2001 of youth organizations like Akbayan Youth, Movement for the Advancement of Student Power and Student Council Alliance of the Philippines to extend registration to the millions of first time voters who did not meet the registration deadline.

Aside from the concern on registration, Erdalin said the FTV project is a platform for new voters to put their stake and agenda for 2007.

"The lessons of 2001 and 2004 and the current traditional political landscape gave us the basis to be proactive in encouraging our fellow youth to participate and now allow ourselves to be muted in the electoral exercise that is very crucial in the coming months," he explained.

The project has already been launched in several parts of the country like Metro Manila, Iloilo City, Dumaguete City, Bacolod City and Antique, and will be launched in more provinces soon. - Wenna A. Berondo/LPM