The SUN HK : Consulate issues overseas voting schedule, but silent on help it needs to hold polls

Consulate's advisory on the upcoming Overseas Voting in HK

The Consulate urged Filipinos in Hong Kong on Sunday to vote early in guidelines it issued on the one-month overseas voting exercise which starts on April 10 at the Bayanihan Center in Kennedy Town.

But it has yet to convene groups it will need in holding the polls – volunteers, political parties, poll watchers and the media -- to prepare for possible problems that might occur when the vote begins, such as complying with the Hong Kong government’s social distancing protocols.

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In its Facebook announcement, the Consulate said voters will know if they are qualified to vote in Hong Kong by opening Hong Kong’s certified list of overseas voters (CLOV). The CLOV can be opened here: https://comelec.gov.ph/php-tpls-attachments/OverseasVoting/2022NLE/CLOV/ASIA_PAC/HONG_KONG.pdf?fbclid=IwAR3qsQsy_w4RsTk_6MGd-hYzji7xVqN5ttZGnPy5EmUQ0jyhAkwdm9WIJlY.

If one’s name is on the list, they can go straight to the Bayanihan Center with their passport or Hong Kong ID. There, they will be informed of their precinct number, where they need proceed to cast their ballots.

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Bayanihan will be open from April 10 to May 8 at 8am to 5pm, and on May 9 itself at 8am to 7pm.

The announcement dismayed Dolores Balladares-Pelaez, one of 1Sambayan Hong Kong, who noted that while the Consulate has issued the guidelines for voters, those with various roles to play in conducting the election have yet to be summoned by Consul General Raly Tejada.

Among the concerns, for example, are checking the ballots and the voting equipment and ensuring their security. "We've been doing these every election," she said. "How could we ensure that these are secure?"

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"We don't even have inspections and trainings for the SBEIs (Special Board of Election Inspectors)," she added.

With the pandemic, she said, "how can we ensure that more OFWs will be able to vote? What is their strategy, or are they looking to just get it over with?"

She suggested that Tejada call even an online meeting immediately "so we would at least know what problems we are facing, and hopefully, we can all work together in finding solutions to them.”

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Except for posting the voters' list on its website last Feb. 7, the Consulate has been silent on its election preparations. In the meantime, some deadlines have passed.

A Commission on Elections advisory from Manila, for example, set March 10 as the deadline for accrediting media personnel who will be allowed to enter the voting centers in the Philippines as part of their work. As of March 27, no announcements or application forms have been issued to the media in Hong Kong.

In previous overseas voting exercises, the Consulate had involved the Filipino community in getting as many Filipinos to register and vote.

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With the Consulate’s leadership and the support of the community, Hong Kong became the topnotcher among Philippine outposts worldwide in the number of voters registered for the first ever overseas voting, held from April 11 to May 10, 2004.

Such support included the community donating the desks and some computers used in the voting center.

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A source at the Consulate said election paraphernalia have arrived from the Comelec in Manila.

Although he did not give details, these are assumed to include ballots and accompanying documents and supplies such as indelible ink, as well as equipment such as computers and electronic ballot-readers.