The Akbayan Youth asked the Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday to extend the registration period for voters in the Oct. 29 Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) polls.
According to Angie Tan, Akbayan Youth coordinator for Metro Manila, the week-long registration period set by the Comelec is “too short” to accommodate the estimated eight to 10 million registrants for SK nationwide.
“The registration period began last July 15 and it will end on July 22. It is too short and if the Comelec will not heed our demand for an extension, millions of young Filipinos will be disenfranchised,” she told The STAR.
Akbayan is set to spearhead today a protest action in front of the Comelec office in Intramuros, Manila to push for the extension.
The Comelec is scheduled to hold the SK and barangay elections simultaneously on Oct. 29.