The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) has appealed to the Honorable Chief Justice of the Supreme Court to issue a directive to all Judges of the Regional and Municipal Trial Courts to resolve all petitions for inclusion/exclusion of voters in the list of voters within the reglementary period set by Republic Act 8189.

Under this law, also known as the Voters' Registration Act of 1996, the courts have a reglementary period of fifteen (15) days to rule on petitions for inclusion, and ten (10) days for petitions for exclusion. In both cases, the reglementary period is counted from the date of the filing of the petition.

Recently, the COMELEC resolved to adjust the period of filing of petitions for inclusion and exclusion. Resolution No. 8603, promulgated by the COMELEC en banc May 28, 2009, states that the adjustment was necessary in order to "cope with the timelines of the Commission in the configuration of the machines (Precinct Count Optical Scan), printing of the Election Day Computerized Lists of Voter (EDCVL), official ballots and other accountable forms" for the May 2010 automated elections.

"Any person whose application for registration has been disapproved by the Election Registration Boards or whose name has been stricken out from the [voters'] list may file with the court a petition to include his name in the permanent list of voters in his precinct at any time but not later than November 30, 2009," states Resolution 8603.

"Any registered voter, representative of a political party or the Election Officer, may file with the court a sworn petition for the exclusion of a voter from the permanent list of voters giving the name, address and the precinct of the challenged voter at any time but not later than December 4, 2009," the Resolution added. ###