Slow first day of overseas voting in HK

 

Queuing for voters who needed help with enrolling to vote was fast

The first day of overseas voting for Filipinos in Hong Kong was off to a slow and quiet start on Sunday, Apr 13, with no formal opening ceremony, or hundreds, if not thousands, of people lining up to be among the first to cast their ballots for a national election in the Philippines.

This is the first time that overseas voting is being done fully via the internet, and many of the more than 83,300 registered voters in Hong Kong appeared hesitant to take part in the new system, at least initially.

Not a few were still insisting on voting in person at the Bayanihan Centre in Kennedy Town, which was designated as the sole polling station in Hong Kong until the last presidential election in 2022.

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

One migrant worker even posted on Facebook that there was still manual voting at Bayanihan Centre, and rallied all online naysayers to vote there instead.

“Doon na tayo bumoto para siguradong wag mag online vote,” she said. (Let us just go there to vote so we won’t be forced to do online voting).

In a separate post, she also urged her fellow OFWs to take screen shots of their completed ballots which she vaguely said could be used as evidence in case of cheating. 

Basahin ang detalye!

Vice Consul Jose Angelo Manuel who is overseeing the OV in Hong Kong said he is aware that such misinformation continues to spread, despite repeated announcements by the Consulate, and even by the Philippines’ Commission on Elections, that most overseas Filipinos will now have to vote online.

VC Manuel said the Consulate has already advised staff and volunteers at the Bayanihan Centre to inform misled voters that they could instead go to the OFW Global Center on the 18^th floor of United Centre in Admiralty if they needed help in enrolling to vote.

VC Manuel personally attends to some voters who need help with enrollment   

He also reiterated the assurance that there are sufficient measures in place to ensure that internet voting is safe and secure. Apart from this, it is a lot more convenient for voters than manual voting.

But on this first day at least, that message did not seem to have hit home yet.

Only a handful of Filipinos could be seen entering the designated OV wing of the OFW Center to ask for help in registering to vote that, except for a few who failed to make the 15-minute cut-off to finish casting their ballot, everything seemed to go smoothly.

One voter who completed his ballot on his mobile phone unassisted, expressed satisfaction at the process, saying it took him less than five minutes to cast his vote. He said that after logging on to the designated portal set up by the Commission on Elections using the registered email and password, a one-time password was sent, which he then used to access his online ballot.

But one poll watcher said one would-be voter who had lined up as early as 9am failed to cast her ballot as she couldn't get through the enrolment phase even if she was supposed to be still in the certified list of overseas voters. She said she would just ask another group to help her enroll. 

Throwback Sunday- the long queue outside Bayanihan Centre on first day of OV 2022

The scene this year was in stark contrast to previous elections, when thousands of people would troop to Bayanihan Centre to vote or solicit votes, especially on the first day of voting, or on Sundays when most Filipino migrant workers were off work.

A number would even camp overnight outside the lone polling station so they could be the first to cast their ballot.

Foremost among them was Baneng Mendez, who takes pride in being the first to vote in all five previous OV in Hong Kong. This time, Baneng said she logged in on the first hour of Apr 13, but was allowed to vote only on her fourth try.

“Kinakarir ko talaga ang pagiging first voter for the past 5 elections, gusto ko sanang panindigan ang panata kong ito. Kaya lang ay hindi ako tiyak kung ako pa rin ang first voter dahil 4x akong disapproved,” said Baneng. (I have made a career out of being the first to vote in the past 5 elections. I really wanted to keep this up but I am not sure if I am still the first voter this time because I was disapproved four times).

She added that all she’s sure of now is that for this election, her vote was for Bayan Muna party-list and the senatorial candidates under the Makabayan bloc.

Baneng spent the night outside Bayanihan Centre in 5 previous OVs to be the first to vote

Given the promised anonymity to online voters it is not likely that determining who voted first in Hong Kong would now be known.

Even ascertaining the daily turnout could be a challenge as the number of people who show up at the OV center could just be a fraction of those who have decided to cast their votes silently, in the comfort of their homes. Neither is Comelec willing to spew out numbers while the vote is ongoing.

But what is important now is to get Filipinos to trust the process and take part in the historic vote. If it is as sound and safe as promised, there would be no better way than this to know the true will of the people.

(Online voting for overseas Filipinos will continue until May 12 at 7pm. The OV help center at the OFW Center will be open daily, including public holidays, from 9am to 4pm).