Comelec chief disappointed over low OAV turn-out

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairperson expressed his dismay over the low turn-out in overseas absentee voting (OAV) in the recently concluded 2013 elections.

"Hindi naman naming mapilit siguro 'yung tao. Ako rin I'm definitely disappointed about the performance of the OAV... Mababa pa rin," poll chief Sixto Brillantes Jr. said in a chance interview on Tuesday.

The Comelec committee on overseas absentee voting has yet to issue an official report.

But the latest data from the Department of Foreign Affairs OAV Secretariat obtained by GMA News Online said that as of May 21, only 117,383 of the total 988,384 overseas registered voters actually voted in the latest polls.

This represents a turn-out of 11.9 percent, compared to 26.9 percent in the 2010 presidential elections.

Asia and the Pacific registered the most number of voters at 50,834, followed by the Middle East and Africa at 31,819, the Americas at 17,725 and Europe at 17,005.

The top ten OAV posts are Hong Kong with 28,260 voters, Singapore with 8,117, Riyadh with 6,797, Jeddah with 3,648, Los Angeles with 3,628, Dubai with 3,488, Milan with 3,227, Abu Dhabi with 3,337, Kuwait with 3,203 and San Francisco with 2,959.

Earlier, the DFA reported an 11.34 percent turn-out.

Internet voting  

Brillantes said they plan to implement internet voting in 2016 to enable voters to cast their vote online instead of in embassies or consulates.

"If there will be internet voting, [OAV turn-out] should go up to about 60 to 70 percent ang increase... Hindi talaga very practical 'yung pupunta kang embassy o consulate eh," he said.

The government targeted an ambitious 80 percent turn-out in OAV.

Earlier, the Comelec said 26 countries registered no votes in the 2013 polls.

The country just had its second automated national and local elections last May 13. — BM, GMA News

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