Comelec: Customs woes delayed voting process in Al-Khobar

MANILA, Philippines – The official voters lists for Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia encountered problems at the Bureau of Customs, which caused the reported delay and disenfranchisement of  some overseas absentee voters, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said Monday.

“The hard copy of OVF-2A Election Day Computerized Voters Lists to be used in Al-Khobar were delayed in Customs,” Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said.

The Comelec official issued the statement after Al-Khobar voters, according to Alay Buhay party-list, experienced difficulty in voting over the weekend.

To ensure the availability of the voters’ lists, Jimenez said the Comelec “sent downloadable files to the Post, which could then be used for verification of voter identities.”

“In addition, the Post personnel are in constant and direct communication with the Office for Overseas Voting which facilitates identification of individual voters,” he added.

The poll body assured the public that it will “continue to work towards improving the voting experience for the rest of the period for overseas voting.”

Overseas voting started on April 13.

Around 1.8 million overseas Filipinos are registered voters with some 800,000 of them based in the Middle East.

Overseas Filipinos can cast their votes until May 13 at the Philippine embassy or consulate they where they are registered. /gsg