Officials say it’s easy only for inmates who are detained in the same locality

MANILA - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Friday registered 330 inmates at the Pasig City Jail, in its campaign to allow those who haven’t been convicted to continue exercising their right to vote.

The listup, however, revealed the limitations, if not gaps, in the exercise that may present difficulties for the authorities on election day.

For one, said Pasig City election officer Frances Carolyn Aguindadao, they can only register those who have been jailed there for at least 6 months.

This is pursuant to the minimum residency requirement in Section 9 of the Voter’s Registration Act of 1998 (or Republic Act 8189. This provisions is contained in Comelec Minute Resolution 09-0307, issued in May, which sets the guidelines for the special registration and voting of detainees (Click here for a copy of the resolution.)

Since the Pasig City Jail is located in the 2nd district, the Comelec can only process the registration of detainees from the said district, Aguindadao explained.

Because of this “jurisdictional limitation,” the election official said, less than half of the 887 detainees qualified for the onsite registration on Friday.

Court Order Needed

If the remaining inmates want to register, said Aguindadao, they will have to do so at the Comelec offices of the localities where they resided prior to their detention. These local poll offices will accommidate them in special registration lanes. Inmates will have to escorted by officers of the Bureau of Jail Management of Penology (BJMP) on these registration trips.

This won’t be easy, however. The Comelec resolution says “detainees need to obtain court order” to be allowed to go out and register in the locality of their residence.

Aguindadao said that the Comelec may not have anticipated the inconveniences that the onsite registration of inmates would bring.

The concerns revealed by the Pasig City Jail listup were the same as the ones encountered by authorities at the Manila City Jail. Only 559 inmates were qulified to register since they are residents of the city’s 3rd district, where the jail is located. There are 3,459 more detainees waiting for a court order that will allow them to register in their own localities.

Pasig City Jail warden Hilbert Flor said that they are now in the process of collecting credentials and requirements from detainees registered in other districts.

Why Not Onsite Voting?

Flor says the registration of qualified inmates in the easier part. He is more worried about the casting of votes on election day.

Flor is aware that Section 55 of the Omnibus Election Code prohibits the setting up of polling places within the parameter of a prison compound.

This means they registered detainees, if they decide to actually vote in May 2010, will each be escorted by jail guards to their respective polling precincts, just like ordinary voters. Flor said this is a security concern that will need more jail personnel to address.

The Comelec guidelines requires a jail to have at least 200 inmates for an onsite registration to be conducted there. Based on this requirement, only 80 percent of the 58,783 inmate population nationwide wil be covered.

Most of these Pasig detainees had their polling addresses changed, or had their registration reactivated after failing to vote in the previous elections. - Newsbreak