MANILA, Philippines—An official of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said the extended voters’ registration on Tuesday will end at midnight.

Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said the poll body will be processing the registration papers of voters who had enlisted last Saturday but were unable to finish on time due to the number of registrants and the blackouts in certain areas due to Typhoon ``Santi.’’

Saturday was supposed to be the last day for registration.

Jimenez said the poll body would try to continue with the biometrics capturing of those who filed applications for registration on October 31.

He added that Comelec offices have been processing voter applications for 16 hours since October 22 in anticipation of the surge of “last-minute” applicants.

An average of over 500 voters swarmed election offices during the last two days of registration so the poll body extended the registration nationwide.

To speed-up the overall registration process, Jimenez reminded voters to bring their identification requirements and stamped application forms because election officers will not issue new forms.

For the 2010 elections, Comelec expects between 46 million and 47 million registered voters, said Jimenez.