Local absentee voting starts

Some 55,000 voters began trooping to various local polling precincts nationwide yesterday to cast their ballots under the absentee voting law, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said yesterday.

Comelec Commissioner Rene Sarmiento said local absentee voters have six days to cast their ballots – April 28, 29 and 30 and May 4, 5 and 6.

Sarmiento said the absentee voting law was designed to give soldiers, policemen and select groups of government employees a chance to vote in advance because they may be assigned to areas where they are not registered voters on Election Day.

He said the Special Board of Election Inspectors was created by the Comelec to supervise the local absentee voting process.

"As in any other election process, there are also watchers to oversee the voting," he said.

Local absentee voting is provided for under Executive Order 157 and Republic Act 7166. Absentee voters, however, are only allowed to vote for presidential, vice presidential, senatorial and party-list candidates.

Meanwhile, Army soldiers based at Fort Bonifacio in Taguig City cast their votes yesterday, two weeks before the May 14 midterm elections, in line with the local absentee voting program.

Philippine Army (PA) chief Lt. Gen. Romeo Tolentino was among the hundreds of soldiers who went to polling precincts set up inside the Army gymnasium when the absentee voting procedure began at 9 a.m. yesterday.

Yesterday’s exercise was put under the direct supervision of senior officers and heads of Army offices at the Army headquarters.

Lt. Col. Ernesto Torres, Army spokesman, said among the Army units that applied for and were granted permission to conduct advance voting are the Headquarters Support Command, the Headquarters Support Group, the Intelligence Service Group, and the 525th Engineering Battalion. – With Jaime Laude