MANILA, Philippines - A legislator has filed three separate bills in Congress, all seeking to extend the local absentee voting privilege to persons with disabilities, senior citizens, and lawyers.
Quezon Rep. Angelina Tan filed House Bills 4958, 4959, and 4960 before the House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms will expand the coverage of the local absentee voting to PWDs, elderly and legal counsels.
Visit our Bill Tracker for more bills authored and co-authored by the congresswoman.
She said that there are already laws that allow absentee voting for Filipinos overseas, media practitioners, members of the armed forces and the police force.
"However, these laws leave other groups disenfranchised due to their physical conditions (persons with disabilities), age-related situations (senior citizens), and also due to the performance of their (lawyers) functions during elections,” Tan added.
She said that her proposals allow the sectors covered to vote only for the positions of President, Vice-President, Senators and Party-list Representatives.
HB 4958 provides for means for PWDs stationed away from their residences on election days to vote on national elections in the precincts nearest to them subject to reasonable regulations by the Commission on Elections.
HB 4959 also provides means for senior citizens while HB 4960 for lawyers stationed away from their residences on election days to vote in the nearest precincts.
“As such, lawyers are called out during the elections to monitor the conduct of election and most are stationed away from their residences," Tan said.
As for senior citizens, Tan noted that some of the elderly may not be able to vote as they are stationed away from their residence on election days either to seek treatment or due to elderly health issues and conditions, among others.