Automation of OAV in HK, Singapore in limbo

KIMBERLY JANE TAN, GMANews.TV

Plans to automate the overseas absentee voting (OAV) in vote-rich Hong Kong and Singapore may not push through due to the opposition of the Philippine embassies there, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said on Monday.

In an interview with reporters, Comelec chief Jose Melo said the Philippine Embassy in Singapore expressed doubts that it could handle the volume of voters who would vote using the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines.

“Ayaw daw, maraming people nagmi-mill around sa isang lugar … Siguro ika nila ang dami-daming boboto dyan (They do not want automation. They don’t want many people to gather there, that’s what the ambassador told us)," he said.

The Philippine Consulate in Hong Kong, meanwhile, is just asking for updates and mechanics regarding the automation of the OAV, according to Comelec Commissioner Amanda Velasco, head of the poll body’s OAV committee.

“Ang Hong Kong wala naman silang problems, gusto lang nila malaman nang maaga paano ang automation (Hong Kong actually has no problems, the just want to know this early how we will go about with automating the OAV)," she said.

Velasco said the host countries do not have any objection with the automated OAV, adding that the opposition was only from the Philippine posts.

Comelec officials will meet with representatives from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and poll machine supplier Smartmatic-TIM on January 27 and 28 to discuss the Singapore issue, and on January 29 and 30 to tackle the Hong Kong problem.

The poll body decided to automate the polls in Singapore and Hong Kong based on the number of voters there – 31,851 in Singapore and 95,355 in Hong Kong. This makes up 20 percent of the total number of overseas voters.

The voting in these countries would be conducted for one whole month until May 10, the day of the elections in the Philippines.- KBK, GMANews.TV

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