By IPSDI
ZOOM – The Institute for Policy, Strategy, & Development Studies (IPSDI), along with the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) and Tahanang Walang Hagdanan, Inc. (TWHI), has joined forces in an effort dubbed as #STRONGERtogether to boost voter registration two months until the deadline.
The non-partisan campaign, launched on Friday August 13, 2021, seeks to support Persons With Disabilities (PWD) and Senior Citizens by providing transportation assistance to make accessible COMELEC registration sites in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
In support of the campaign, TWHI Administrative Manager Ramon Apilado lauded the effort by saying that it makes the registration, and even the upcoming 2022 elections, more inclusive for PWDs.
“The quarantine has been difficult for everyone to move, most especially those who are differently abled.” said Apilado “We hope that through this campaign we empower more PWDs to register and participate in our democracy.”
In addition, the campaign also appeals to young voters to register in exchange for access to a platform that offers job, scholarship, mentorship, and training opportunities – the first campaign of its kind.
“We need to take a different approach than the conventional campaigns we’ve held before,” said IPSDI President Elmer Cruz. “This time, besides the usual tone of ‘urgency’, we’ve decided to invest in building relationships and giving them a new reason to register and vote – an incentive to access other opportunities.”
COMELEC Spokesperson Director James Jimenez believes #STRONGERtogether would greatly complement the ongoing efforts of the commission to increase voter registration before September 30.
“These efforts are part of our collective but differentiated responsibility to get everyone to register” Jimenez said. “The priority is clear: to get everyone to participate in the elections, and we can only do that if we make voter registration all the more accessible and appealing.”
With only around 50 days left until the registration deadline, the group prods voters to register in a bid to increase public participation in the 2022 national polls; an election described as consequential due to the current COVID-19 global crisis.
