Nearly 200,000 UAE Filipinos to vote online in Philippine polls

With infrastructure development as well as digitalisation among the priorities of the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Administration, 1,241,690 overseas Filipinos (OFs), certified as qualified voters by the Commission on Elections (Comelec), would now have better chances to exercise their right to suffrage.

This is so as even twice delayed – from the original March 10 and March 20 – Comelec on Saturday evening, released through 77 of the 95 Philippine diplomatic and consular missions around the world, the official pre-enrolment link for the historic Internet/Online Voting (ov.comelec.gov.ph/enrol).

The release is relative to the month-long General/Mid-Term Elections commencing on April 13. All registered OFs, including registered mariners, tabulated in the Comelec Certified List of Overseas Voters (CLOV) dated until December 2024, would be able to cast their vote for maximum 12 senatorial candidates and one party-list representative using their respective mobile phones, personal computers or laptops until 7pm Philippine time (3pm. UAE time) of May 12.

The pre-enrolment runs until May 7. Only those in the CLOVs available over www.comelec.gov.ph can enrol and vote.

OF voters (OFVs) must have verified their CLOV enlistment. On hand must be their personal mobile phones, computers or laptops, valid Philippine passport, active email address, and active phone number.

OFVs in the UAE at 189,892 – the highest worldwide – listed in the 6,973- page CLOVs at the Philippine Embassy-Abu Dhabi (2,351 pages) and Philippine Consulate General-Dubai (4,411 pages) sites over www.comelec.gov.ph are among the first to experience the Internet/Online Voting, an initiative undertaken by the election body in collaboration with the Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Science and Technology, and the Department of Information Communications Technology.

Long-time UAE resident Bobbie Carella was among the excited: “The Philippines is now abreast with digitisation which is great. Democracy means one vote each.”

The Internet/Online Voting for which Comelec officials went to learn about the best practices of the Eastern European nation of Estonia in 2024, is the third mode adopted by the Philippine Government since the “Overseas Absentee Voting Act of 2003” was signed into law by then Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Feb. 13, 2003.

It now blends with the automated elections first initiated in 2010 and postal voting.

From 2004, OFVs manually filled up ballots and until 2021, through the automated elections, they were required to physically cast their votes once at the embassies and consulates general, where they had registered and eventually enlisted. Registered mariners had to participate at the Philippine mission nearest their docking.

Pre-enrolment: The Philippine Embassy-Abu Dhabi and the Philippine Consulate General-Dubai conducted a joint hybrid community briefing on March 20, the resource speaker of which, direct from Manila, was Comelec-Voting director Atty. Ian Michael Geonaga.

Geonaga outlined the step-by-step procedure for the pre-enrolment. He discussed election restrictions and addressed concerns regarding possible cyber-attacks.

On the deferment of the pre-enrolment link, Geonaga assured that all systems must be well-secured even as there are four satellite servers within the Philippines and overseas.

Ambassador Alfonso Ferdinand Ver said: “We started overseas absentee voting 20 years ago in response to the clamour of our overseas Filipinos to have their voices heard in electing our nation’s leaders, and in turn substantively participate in charting the destiny of our country.”

“Election is the purest exercise of that participation in our political process where all Filipinos, regardless of their status or background will have equal and the same rights to cast just one vote. Hence, with online voting being piloted for our kababayan (countryman) overseas, a historic first in the history of our country’s democracy, we now call on everyone’s utmost participation and engagement from our part to make this new mode of voting work and succeed,” he also said.