New Registration Stations

One of the biggest challenges facing the COMELEC as we inch ever closer to the resumption of voter registration in September, is how to arrange our offices to protect both the registering public and our personnel, from the dangers of COVID-19 transmission. Seeing as how online registration still hasn’t happened – and probably won’t for quite some time yet – the solution lies in trying to COVID-proof the single greatest possible point of contagion in the registration process: biometrics capturing.

Biometrics capturing involves the registration applicant to sit opposite a camera and physically handle signature pad and pen, and an electronic fingerprint scanner. Naturally, the entire process is overseen by the election worker who, in addition to guiding the registrant, needs to conduct an interview to determine the registrant’s eligibility to register. Wanting to propagate the best practices from COMELEC field offices, we asked our election officers to show us how they solved this challenge. And they all responded enthusiastically. But wanting to inspect an actual set-up in person, I went to the Office of the Election Officer of Sipocot, Camarines Sur to see for myself.

As a general measure, the OEO of Sipocot covered up the office window – where they conducted some of their other transactions – with clear sheets of plastic. The place, of course, was plastered with various reminders and announcements.

Inside, the office was divided into two sections – the one where staff would be, behind a makeshift wall of plastic sheets, and (the one where we were) the public area that would accommodate only two, safely distanced, people.

The main thing about registration is, of course, the biometrics capturing area. In Sipocot, they rigged it so that only the items that would be handled by the registrant would be actually in the registration area. The rest of the components – along with the election worker – would be safely behind the protective barrier.

Fingerprint capture would be via a small window cut into the protective barrier, through which the electronic fingerprint scanner protrudes …

… while both the signature pad and camera would both be in front of the registrant. Since registration was still suspended when these pictures where taken, the disinfection supplies – 70% alcohol primarily – were still in the boxes they came in. But needless to say, when this work station becomes operational in September, those supplies will be right on that table, next to the tablet and camera so that each registrant can wipe the equipment down before using them. The set-up looked good to me, and based on the submissions of nearly everyone else, it follows a common pattern. Certainly, it seems like if these preparations are deployed and used properly, there will be very little chance for transmission, and that’s a good thing. I only worry, tho, about the impact this set-up will have on the time it takes for a single person to go through biometrics capturing. Admittedly, these precautions won’t add a lot of time to an individual’s registration time, but scale it up to the hundreds per day we might soon be having to entertain, and well, things can start looking pretty different. We have a month to worry about that and make sure it doesn’t become a problem. IN the meantime, here’s to the Election Officers who are at the very front lines of this very important work!