International observers said Monday’s balloting was generally credible, but they expressed concerns over lack of secrecy in the voting process, long queues, vote-buying and breakdowns of the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines.
The National Citizens Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) said on Sunday that more than 400 dead people have been included in the computerized voters list (CVL) while at least 20 others who have been abroad during the past two elections have not been deleted from the official list.
The first eight winning senators could be proclaimed within 48 hours from the close of the voting on Election Day, Commission on Elections (Comelec) chair Sixto Brillantes Jr. said on Tuesday.
One seafarer had not voted in nearly 18 years. Another thought the Binay on the ballot was Vice President Jejomar Binay suddenly seeking a Senate seat. Still, another has been out of the show biz loop and thought reelectionist Juan Miguel Zubiri was still dating singer-actress Vina Morales.
Overseas absentee voting (OAV) at the Philippine Consulate General here got off to a slow but smooth start (Sunday in Manila) as consular officials said they were anticipating the bulk of the votes to come in – by mail or delivered to the consulate office in person – during the last two weeks of the voting period.
Two scholars from the United States are coming to Manila next week to speak at a roundtable discussion on Electoral Reform to be hosted by the Angara Centre for Law and Economics on Jan. 29.
Filipino-Americans who voted for either Barrack Obama or Mitt Romney in the US presidential elections are expected to also participate in choosing the next Philippine president should amendments to the overseas absentee voting (OAV) law pass this Congress.
Despite failing its target of one million overseas absentee voters for the 2013 midterm elections, the Department of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday the number overseas voters has tripled since absentee balloting for Filipinos abroad was introduced in 2004.
More than 200,000 overseas Filipinos have signed up for overseas absentee voting (OAV) as the Department of Foreign Affairs stepped up its campaign to encourage up to a million Filipino migrants to register ahead of next year’s midterm elections.
Nearly 97,000 Filipinos across the world have registered in the past six months to vote in next year’s elections, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).
The Commission on Elections has barred the movement of all officers and members of the Foreign Service Corps, including those belonging to attached agencies, beginning Sunday until August 11, 2013.
A campaign to facilitate voting for persons with disabilities will be launched on Wednesday to ensure that more handicapped voters would troop to the polls in next year’s midterm elections.
