The Comelec’s website posted statistics as of April 28, 2004, in preparation for the May 10 polls then. The state-run Philippine Information Agency regional office here does not have the updated figures on the region it is covering and is also awaiting Comelec’s list, a check with PIA Davao showed.
Based on the 2004 records of Comelec, Mindanao had a total of 9.9 million out of the country’s 43.5 million registered voters then.
Of its six regions, Southeastern Mindanao, comprising the three Davao provinces and Compostela Valley and the cities within the region – Davao, Panabo, Tagum, Digos — had the most number of voters, at 2.1 million, in the 2004 elections.
Northern Mindanao, which comprises Bukidnon, Camiguin, Lanao del Norte, Misamis Occidental and Misamis Oriental and the cities of Cagayan de Oro, Malaybalay, Valencia, Iligan, Ozamiz, Oroquieta, Gingoog and Tangub, followed with 2.06 million.
Southwestern Mindanao, comprising South Cotabato, Sarangani, Sultan Kudarat and North Cotabato and the cities of General Santos, Koronadal, Tacurong, Kidapawan and Cotabato, had 1.8 million voters as of 2004.
Western Mindanao, which comprises the three Zamboanga provinces and Isabela, had 1.6 million voters as of the 2004 elections; Caraga, which comprises the two Agusans and two Surigaos and the cities of Butuan, Bislig and Surigao, had 1.1 million voters while the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) had 1.05 million voters during the same period.
In February this year, House Resolution 1540 urged Comelec to post the registered voters’ list on a nationwide scale “in order to ensure transparency and avoid the disenfranchisement of millions of voters who might not find their names or their precincts or their polling booths on the day of voting on May 14.