Comelec: Over 1.7M Filipinos abroad registered to vote in May polls

MANILA, Philippines — More than 1.7 million Filipinos abroad have registered in time for the May 2019 midterm elections, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said Friday.

Comelec Spokesperson James Jimenez said the latest total of 1,789,823 registered overseas Filipino voters increased by 783,076 (77.78%) compared to the 2016 elections’ 1,006,747.

According to Jimenez,“The reason for the increase is greater interest in the electoral system and second, the perception that in 2016 the overseas vote was very relevant.”

“So parang nabuhayan ‘yung loob nung ating overseas community and they have been very active recently,” he also said during a press conference.

Jimenez said the biggest increase came from Middle East and Africa, which registered a 97 percent rise in registered voters with 889, 114. This was followed by Asia and Pacific with 388,619 voters.

Meanwhile, there are 337,060 registered voters in the Americas and 175,030 voters in Europe, the Comelec official added. /kga