The kickoff of the overseas absentee voting in next month’s mid-term elections was generally successful, diplomats have disclosed.
Filipinos abroad cast their votes beginning last Saturday in different Philippine embassies and consulates general around the world.
At the Philippine Embassy in Moscow, Russia which covers the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Ukraine, and Belarus, more than 30 Filipinos cast their ballots on the first day of voting.
“Everything is well. No problems so far except for a few people whose names were not in the Certified List of Overseas Voters for our post, which we hope to resolve soon with the Commission on Elections,” Philippine Ambassador Carlos Sorreta said.
At the Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, hundreds of registered Filipino voters trooped outside the consulate Saturday.
“The turnout is impressive and satisfactory,” Philippine Consul General Edgar Badajos said.
The Philippine Consulate General Guangzhou reported that the conduct of the voting was problem-free. “Guangzhou PCG is expecting approximately 1,000 voters within its jurisdiction as Filipinos all over the world take part in the democratic exercise,” it said.
It was also problem-free voting at the Philippine Embassy in Washington.
“The first day of overseas voting passed without incident. The embassy expects to receive more accomplished ballots in the coming days,” Darell Artates, public diplomacy officer at the embassy, said.
In Japan, Consul General Robespierre Bolivar said Filipinos were “enthusiastic” about the 2019 elections and trooped to the embassy in the first two days of voting.
Last Saturday and Sunday, the embassy’s Special Ballot Reception and Custody Group received at least 80 ballots through the mail.
“Today, April 15, the Embassy’s Special Board of Election Inspectors will feed this first batch of ballots into the Vote Counting Machines,” Bolivar said.
Bolivar said the embassy is now mailing the remaining voting packets to the registered voters since there are almost 40,000 ballots that have to be sorted and mailed to voters in Japan.
A total of 1,822,173 Overseas Filipino Workers registered for the OAV.
Of this number, 401,390 are based in the Asia-Pacific region, 887,744 in the Middle East and African region, 187, 632 in Europe, and 345,415 in the North and Latin American region.
The voting last Saturday started at around 8 a.m. local time in the host country and shall end at 6 p.m. on May 13, Manila time.
Aside from the three conflict-affected posts, Damascus, Syria; Tripoli, Libya; and Bagdhad, Iraq where overseas voting was cancelled, all Filipino foreign posts opened its doors to Filipinos who participated in the OAV.
A total of 41 posts used the vote counting machines – Agana, Calgary, Chicago, Honolulu, Los Angeles, New York, Ottawa, San Francisco, Toronto, Vancouver, Washington, Brunei, Canberra, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Macau, Kaohsiung, Taichung, Taipei, Osaka, Seoul, Singapore;
Sydney, Tokyo, Wellington, Athens, London, Madrid, Milan, Rome, Abu Dhabi, Beirut, Doha, Dubai, Jeddah, Kuwait, Manama, Muscat, Al-Khobar, Riyadh, and Tel Aviv.
Voting via mail were utilized in Brasilia, Buenos Aires, Mexico, Santiago, Bangkok, Beijing, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Hanoi, Islamabad, Port Moresby, Yangon, Ankara, Berlin, Berne, Brussels, Budapest, Geneva, Lisbon, Moscow, Oslo, Paris, Prague, The Hague, Vienna, Warsaw, Abuja, Cairo, and Pretoria.
Filipinos voted in persons in Dhaka, Dili, Jakarta, Manado, New Delhi, Phnom Penh, Shanghai, Vientiane, Xiamen, Vatican, Amman, Nairobi, and Tehran. (PNA)
