Less than 200,000 new voter registrants are expected to be listed in case the Commission on Elections (Comelec) decides to extend the voter registration.

“Right now, our expectation is we are probably going to get less than 200,000 more who have not registered yet,” Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said in a virtual briefing late Friday afternoon.

He said they have exceeded by one million their target new registrants of four million for the whole registration period.

“We exceeded our expectation of four million. We are now actually at five million,” he added.

Asked about the possibility of extending the registration in some areas only, Jimenez said a “granular extension” would be difficult.

“We will see. I think if we are going to have a solution it will be a system-wide solution,” he added.

The Comelec en banc is set to meet next week to discuss calls for an extension of the voter registration.

The Comelec is expected to come up with a decision on September 29, a day before the September 30 deadline of the nationwide voter registration. (PNA)