Philippines mandate biometric registration for voters
Lawmakers in the Philippines recently passed a law that would require all voters to register their biometric data before they are eligible to participate in national elections; voters who fail to register before the filing deadline will be stricken from the voter rolls, but will have the opportunity to reactivate their status once they register
Lawmakers in the Philippines recently passed a law that would require all voters to register their biometric data before they are eligible to participate in national elections.
Last week the Filipino House of Representatives approved House Bill 3469, which would require all voters to have their photo taken as well as their fingerprint and signature scanned by federal election authorities.
The information will be managed by the Commission on Elections in a single, centralized database.
Voters who fail to register before the filing deadline will be stricken from the voter rolls, but will have the opportunity to reactivate their status once they register.
Representative Rufus Rodriguez, a co-author of the bill, said making biometrics registration mandatory would help eliminate electoral fraud and guarantee the right to vote.
“By doing this, it will ensure an honest, clean and credible election, plebiscite or referenda,” Rodriguez said.
