BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL BAÑAGA AND MAE SINGUAY
BACOLOD City – More than two million people are expected to vote in the May 2022 presidential elections in this city and the province of Negros Occidental, according to the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
The province registered 59,437 new voters in addition to the 1,887,202 in the 2019 midterm polls, said Atty. Ian Lee Ananoria, provincial election supervisor.
The biggest number of voters are in the 3rd District with 313,671 followed by the 6th District with 307,048, 5th District (291,349), 1st District (251,754), 4th District (241,130), and the 2nd District (214,284).
Five local government units (LGU) have the highest number of voters: Kabankalan City (104,994), Bago City (99,799), Cadiz City (96,224), Silay City (89,483), and San Carlos City (85,878).
There were 743 polling centers in the province with 15,193 precincts, 12,289 of which were established precincts and 2,904 clustered precincts.
Bacolod, on the other hand, has 327,403 voters for next year’s polls, a 4.93-percent increase from 2019’s 312,000.
However, city election officer Kathrina Caña said this record could change because they are still in the process of “cleansing.”
Caña said several residents transferred their voters’ registration, and it was not yet reflected on the record.
Forty-five public schools will serve as voting centers here. There were 450 clustered precincts and 1,350 teachers to comprise the electoral board.
Caña said by next week there will be a training to be held in preparation of the coming elections./PN