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| Comelec chair George Garcia announces the start of historic online voting, but does not provide link |
The first internet voting for overseas Filipinos was
proclaimed by the Commission on Elections to have begun yesterday, with the
pre-enrolment for voters scheduled to kick in.
However, the link for pre-enrolment, which had
already been delayed by 10 days, was nowhere to be found on any of the Comelec’s
official websites or social media pages.
Comelec Chairman George Garcia told reporters yesterday,
Thursday, that it was the first day of pre-enrolment for internet voters.
“Today is the first day of enrolment, you must enroll
yourselves on our website, everything is there…,” he said, adding that that it
would only take less than two minutes to complete the process.
He advised Filipinos abroad that they must enroll first
to get a code, then use that to secure a ballot and cast their votes.
He said the Comelec is “lenient” in that it will accept
any government-issued IDs, expired or new passport, seaman’s book as proof of
identity for the pre-enrolment, which was supposed to run from yesterday, Mar
20, to Apr 7.
Provided, however, that people who will pre-enrol
are registered overseas voters.
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| Comelec's advisory on pre-enrolment merely provides a link to its website |
The pre-enrolment will serve as a dry run for the
actual enrolment which will start on the first day of overseas voting on Apr 13, up until May 5, or a week before the election ends on May 12.
Only the online media portal, Rappler, noted that
the pre-enrolment link was missing, and said that it had already sought
clarification about it from Comelec’s Office for Overseas Voting (OFOV) but
have yet to get a reply.
Comments on OFOV’s Facebook page raised the same
question, with some raising concern about a possible glitch, or blaming Comelec for being remiss in its duty.
Not a few said they had doubts about intenet voting and would rather vote as before.
In Hong Kong, the Philippine Consulate has again
scheduled a briefing on pre-enrolment with Filipino community leaders this
coming Sunday, Mar. 23. A session set a week earlier did not go as planned
because the original start of the list-up on Mar 10 was canceled at the last
minute.
Internet voting will replace face-to-face casting of
ballots or voting by mail in 77 overseas posts where there are sizeable numbers
of Filipino voters, and the internet system is not restricted, as in China and
Russia.
Comelec and the OV Secretariat of the Department of
Foreign Affairs are working hand-in-hand to boost voter turnout with the new
system.
In the 2022 presidential election, a record 38% of
all registered overseas voters turned out to vote. Hong Kong’s turnout was
nearly twice this much in terms of percentage. Of the 93,886 registered voters,
62,252 or 64% had cast their ballots.
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