The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) extended yesterday the deadline of registration of first-time voters and transferees from October 31 to November 9 to accommodate more first-time voters who have not yet registered, it was announced yesterday by Chairman Benjamin S. Abalos.

"It is the desire of COMELEC not to disenfranchise any qualified voter, thus we are reaching out to them and extending our calendar to enable a greater number of registrants to list up," said Abalos.

Chairman Abalos, however, stressed that all COMELEC offices nationwide will be closed on Friday, Oct. 31 and Saturday, Nov." 1, both holidays, and Nov. 2, a Sunday. Registration will resume on Monday, Nov. 3.

The poll body's chairman said validation of voters' registration records, which the COMELEC earlier suspended to prioritize the use of its data capture machines (DCM), will resume on Nov. 3 except in areas where the poll body has ongoing general registration of voters such as in Lapu-Lapu City.

These dates were finalized at an executive session of the COMELEC En Banc yesterday, attended by Abalos, Commissioners Luzviminda Tancangco, Mehol Sadain, Florentino Tuason Jr. and Resurreccion Borra.

Abalos said the poll body is in the thick of preparations for the May 10, 2004 national and local elections using both automated and manual systems of voting.

The COMELEC En Banc agreed to hold computerized elections using the Automated Counting Machines (ACM) in the following places: the National Capital Region, the five provinces of Cebu, Iloilo, Negros Occidental, Rizal and Pampanga; the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) including Isabela and Cotabato City; Baguio City, Iloilo City and Cagayan de Oro City.

This decision was arrived at by the COMELEC following a request from the Oversight Committee of Congress on Automation of Elections to implement the automation in selected areas only and not nationwide.