The Supreme Court, in a nine-page decision penned by Justice Conchita Carpio-Morales, has unanimously declared null and void Comelec Resolution No. 8585 which shortened the deadline of registration of voters last October 31, 2009 superseding Comelec Resolution No. 8514 which sets the deadline to December 15, 2009. Subsequent to this, it was ruled that the registration be extended until January 9 or 120 days before the May 10 elections.
In a petition filed by Kabataan party-list led by Raymond Palatino, the Supreme Court concurred that shorter registration means a massive disenfranchisement for the voters especially first-time voters. The ponente said that the people’s right to suffrage “is at the heart of our constitutional democracy” and that there is no valid ground for Comelec to disregard Republic Act 8189 also known as the Voter’s Registration Act of 1996 that calls for a continuing voter’s registration system.
Meanwhile, Ferdinand Rafanan of Comelec’s Legal Department said that Comelec would file a motion for reconsideration to seek a reversal of the SC ruling citing that they have already exceeded their target of 47 million voters by 3 million, thus an extension of registration is not necessary. This extension will result in a disruption of Comelec’s timeline for automation.
It was also announced that the Comelec en banc has already set the tentative dates for the extended voters’ registration on December 21, 22, 23, 28 and 29 and will resume on January 4 after the New Year break, should they fail to get their appeal.
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