finally!!

After a grand total of 3 attempts, my sister and I managed to register for the 2010 elections. Yes, three attempts. Attempt number one, I've already described (see my entry "COMELEC horror"). The second attempt was on September 10. We went to the COMELEC only to find that the office was closed since the staff were running the voters' registration at University of Makati. Admirable, yes, but isn't this the same office that laughed at the idea of DLSU giving out registration forms?

That aside, here is attempt number 3.

Thanks to perhaps the ever-approaching deadline, the COMELEC office was pretty much swamped today with new voters and transferees filling out forms. Sure, the space was limited, but someone didn't have the foresight to provide chairs or even just a table for everyone who had paperwork. And once again, the staff were not quite as accomodating to the people who were coming in with questions or inquiring about the status of their registration.

-A lady had receieved a letter from the COMELEC regarding some discrepancy in her personal information (she got married and changed her surname). She went to the distrit office to ask if her name was on the voters' list,considering that she applied for some sort of affidavit some months ago. The officer who handled her case was being quite brusque, answering her questions with the roundabout "you registered in 2006, it's 2009 already", and generally making the inquiry process difficult.

-A couple was asking about the requirements their child would need to register. AGAIN, the COMELEC officials requested a billing statement as proof of address! (again, a problem since the child still lives with the parents, thus the statement would be in the name of the parents, not the child) My mother overheard this and ended up having to help this couple clear up their problem regardin requirements. Apparently either the COMELEC officials assume that even college kids can pay the electric and water bills at home, or they haven't thought through their list of requirements.

-It was 10:30 am. One of the officials said that the picture taking for the voters' IDs would most likely be at 1pm for everyone in the queue (supposedly because the staff still has to verify residency, forms have to be filled out, etc). Naturally a lot of people were upset--who wants to spend three hours in line on a busy Friday? And truth be told, the queue, the biometrics-taking, and picture taking process didn't take that long. My sister and I were finished with our registration by 11:30.

This entire process, victorious as the outcome was, is frankly quite discouraging. Why must voters jump through hoops just to be able to exercise their civic duty? Instead of facilitating suffrage, it seems as if this office may even discourage it.

Next up: Monitoring the campaign.