The Philippines Supreme Court has ruled that the country's electoral commission cannot prevent voters from taking part in elections just because they have not submitted biometric details.The Philippines Supreme Court has ruled that the country's electoral commission cannot prevent voters from taking part in elections just because they have not submitted biometric details.The Supreme Court has temporarily ordered the Commission on Elections (Comelec) not to deactivate the registration of 2.5 million voters who failed to have their biometrics taken for the 2016 elections.The ruling follows an attempt by a collation of opposition groups to block the deactivation on the grounds that it was unconstitutional.The petitioners, including Kabataan Party-List Representative Terry Ridon, told the SC: “The biometrics validation gravely violates due process as it is an unreasonable deprivation of the constitutional right to vote for millions of Filipinos who have failed to register their biometric information despite existing and active registration – in effect a voter's re-registration – for various reasons, whether personal or institutional.”Comelec has said that voters with incomplete or corrupted biometrics data will be allowed to vote in May 2016. However, it had said that voters completely without biometrics data cannot vote in the next elections.
Supreme Court deals blow to Philippines biometric election
