• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
A total of 2.701 million Negrenses are expected to cast their votes in the next Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE) in Negros Occidental, records of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) showed.
Of the number, 2.035 million are regular voters while the remaining 666,186 are youth or SK voters.
Provincial Election Supervisor Ian Lee Ananoria said that 50 percent of the 4.143 million voters in Negros Island Region are residents of Negros Occidental.
Of the 78,000 voter applicants in the recently concluded registration, about 40,000 got the approval of the Comelec, he added.
The Comelec has originally scheduled the synchronized BSKE on Dec. 1 this year. However, it was rescheduled to November next year, following the passage and approval of Republic Act 12232 postponing the conduct of the BSKE.
Comelec-Negros Island Region Director Lionel Marco Castillano said the poll body is awaiting the Supreme Court’s decision on a petition from some sectors seeking to declare the law postponing the BSKE as unconstitutional.
Pending ruling of the high court, Castillano said they will continue preparing for the BSKE in case it will be held this coming Dec. 1. | GB
