Congress pressed for law on online voting for overseas Pinoys

The Commission of Elections (Comelec) on Wednesday urged lawmakers to pass a law allowing Filipino voters abroad to cast their ballots online in order to encourage them to participate in the 2016 local and national elections.

Comelec chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. said the poll body will need Congress’ approval to implement an online voting system since Republic Act No. 10590 or the Overseas Absentee Voting Act of 2013 only allows Filipino voters abroad to cast their votes either through mail or at the Philippine embassy or consulate.

“We’re proposing [voting through] e-mail or the Internet… but this will require the approval of Congress. The system now is you have to go to the consulate or the embassy kaya kakakunti ang bumoboto,” he said.

Comelec is also studying the possibility of coming up with a resolution allowing online voting for overseas Filipino workers but Brillantes said he is worried this might be questioned.

OFWs may be able to vote online or via e-mail in the May 2016 polls if Congress passes a law allowing voting via the Internet by the middle of 2015, Brillantes said.

In particular, Comelec is eyeing the implementation of online voting in key areas abroad with a large Filipino population such as Saudi Arabia and other countries in the Middle East.

“Our information campaign is not the problem. Our problem is not increasing the number of registered voters but increasing [the number] of those who will vote, kasi kung umabot sa 2 million [ang nag-register] tapos 200,000 lang ang boboto, bababa na naman ang percentage,” he said.

Based on government records, there are 737,759 registered overseas voters worldwide, excluding the 238,557 voters who were supposed to be delisted for failing to vote during the 2007 and 2010 elections. They were eventually reinstated by the poll body.

Latest data from the Department of Foreign Affairs show there are 102,817 new overseas Filipino workers who have registered for the 2016 polls. Of these, 43 percent or 44,693 are from the Middle East and Africa.

The DFA and the Comelec earlier said they want to double the number of overseas voters for the 2016 polls. —KBK, GMA News

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