More ballot boxes, precincts needed due to increase in Aklan voters
BY VENUS G. VILLANUEVA

KALIBO, Aklan - With the increase in number of Aklan's voting population for the October 29 Barangay and SK elections, there is now a need for the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) to provide additional ballot boxes and polling precincts for Aklan.
Acting Provincial Election Supervisor (PES) of COMELEC-Aklan Lorena Tumbagahan said this is one of the concerns being looked into by her office in the province in the wake of the remarkable increase in the number of registered voters in the province of Aklan.
Aklan's registered voters now number 300,578 for the regular election. In the May 2007 local and national elections, the province had 273,709 registered voters, with Kalibo, the capital town having the biggest number.
COMELEC records also show that for this coming SK election, there are 25,182 young people in Aklan who will be voting for their sector's representatives.
Tumbagahan assured that COMELEC-Aklan, with its 17 election officers in the municipalities who are back in their stations after the local and national elections last May, is more than ready for the October 29, 2007 Barangay and SK elections.
The COMELEC office here under Tumbagahan has also started distributing to various government offices copies of Resolution No. 8285 on the deputation of Certain Departments under the Executive Branch, Government-Owned and Controlled Corporations and Financial Institutions in connection with the October 29 Barangay and SK elections.
Deputized departments which would perform specific duties relative to the conduct of the elections, as mandated in the resolution include the Department of Education, the Department of Finance, the Department of Transportation and Communications, the Commission on Audit, the Department of Budget and Management, and the Philippine Information Agency.