The Philippine government is seeking to institutionalize the use of biometrics in voter registration to clean the voter record in preparation for the midterm elections in 2013. House Bill 3469 which requires all voters to have their biometrics data — photographs, fingerprints and signature — taken by an election officer and prohibits those without biometric data from voting has now hurdled Third Reading at the House of Representatives.
According to the author of the bill, 2nd district Tarlac Representative Susan Yap, the move will “cure the perennial problem of multiple registrants and flying voters” since every registrant is assigned a unique key of identification.
… Comelec Spokesperson and Director James Jimenez said in a statement the mandatory capture of biometrics information for all registered voters is a cornerstone of the Comelec campaign to clean up the list of voters. Out of the estimated 48 million registered voters in the country, about 24 million have not yet undergone the biometrics process, said Yap.
“They will have to register anew or validate their registration. They will be required to appear before the election officer of their place of registration to verify their record and undergo the biometrics process,” she said.
The bill also seeks the use of biometrics technology in the actual voting process.
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