Migrante fears many OFWs won’t be able to vote

MANILA, Philippines -  A party-list group warned yesterday of a failure of overseas absentee voting (OAV) when thousands of overseas Filipinos would not be able to participate in the May elections.

In a statement, Migrante said the Commission on Elections (Comelec) apparently paved the way for the imminent failure.

“The Comelec revealed that there may not be enough ballots for overseas absentee voters for the 2013 midterm elections,” Migrante said.

Migrante official Connie Bragas-Regalado said the Comelec seemed to be not inclined to address the problem.

“The Comelec recently reinstated 238,557 OAVs that it delisted earlier,” she said.

“However, in its latest resolution, the Comelec has decided to just print an additional 20 percent of ballots allocated for the total number of registered OAVs which is expected to reach at least 900,000 for the 2013 midterm elections.

“By doing so, the Comelec is discouraging our OFWs from exercising their right to cast their votes. How can they say that they don’t see any problem with the shortage in ballots? They are practically saying that massive disenfranchisement of OAVs is fine and acceptable.”

The Comelec has failed to release clear guidelines for OAVs situated in countries where consulates and embassies closed down, Regalado said.

Last year, at least 10 consulates and embassies closed down as a result of the government’s austerity measures. Consulates and embassies serve as voting precincts for Filipino voters abroad.