The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said Monday it will push to increase the number of polling precincts in Hong Kong to accommodate more voters after a “chaotic” first day of absentee voting for overseas Filipinos, who said the Philippine consular office there could not handle the number of people who wanted to vote.
Long queues of Filipinos who wanted to cast their vote alarmed police in Hong Kong, which has been grappling with a surge in COVID-19 infections.
Comelec Commissioner George Garcia said the move to increase the number of precincts would be discussed at the poll body’s en banc meeting Tuesday.
Garcia said the Comelec-Hong Kong post had decided to use only five out of the 10 available vote-counting machines.
“Our post in Hong Kong has chosen to only establish five precincts. Actually, there are five more vote-counting machines available to our post there—four additional and one on standby basis,” Garcia said.
He said he hoped to increase the number of precincts to eight or even 10 in Hong Kong.
Meantime, the packets for mail-in voting will “be received by today or tomorrow,” Garcia said.
“We still have until the 15th of April for them to return the packets of the ballots to the post,” he said.
Overseas Filipinos have 29 more days before voting closes and the period can be extended until May 9, Garcia added.
There are some 1.697 million overseas Filipino voters and the Comelec has 92 posts abroad, half of which run automated election systems with the other half conducting mail-in voting, Garcia said.
Meanwhile, Daisy Solomon, a leader of a non-government organization in Italy, presented videos and pictures at a press conference of overseas Filipino voters completing their ballots on the sidewalk of a hospital across from the Philippine Embassy.
She said the embassy there did not provide any tables and chairs to accommodate those who wanted to vote.
Senator Imee Marcos on Monday called for extended office hours at Philippine embassies and consulates to ensure that overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) can cast their votes in this year’s national elections.
Marcos, who chairs the Senate committee on electoral reforms and people’s participation, warned that setbacks reported on the first day of voting in Hong Kong, the United States, Italy, and New Zealand may be replicated in other areas where large OFW populations are located.
“Let’s not wait for a last-minute scramble to implement remedies. Thousands of OFWs will end up being disenfranchised,” Marcos said.
“The immediate solution is to extend voting hours at our embassies and consulates, while the logistical challenges of setting up more voting precincts still have to be sorted out by the Comelec,” she added.
Marcos pointed out that government offices abroad did not have consistent voting hours, with some ending mid-afternoon and others extending into the night.
Long lines, the delayed shipment of election paraphernalia, and unreceived mail-in ballots are preventing many OFWs from voting.
Complaints reaching Marcos’s office from Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom also revealed that some OFWs still did not know where to vote or that the deadline for voter registration was already over.
“The Comelec and DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs) must review the math of accommodating OFWs in different areas daily and within the one-month voting period allotted,” said Marcos.
“It’s also not too late to ramp up an information campaign so that OFWs know their precinct assignments,” she added.
Garcia, meanwhile, said the Comelec has not received any official report from their Singapore post regarding a claim by one Filipino based there that the ballot she received was “pre-shaded.”
Commissioner Marlon Casquejo added that the incident, reported in a Facebook post, was unlikely because voters are asked to sign on a sheet of paper to signify that the ballot they received was not tampered with before they cast their vote.
Garcia warned overseas Filipinos against propagating “fake news” about the elections, saying they could be prosecuted for doing so.