Hong Kong registers highest OAV turnout in 2019 midterm polls

The Comelec said a total of 334,242 overseas voters or 18.34 percent of the 1,822,173 million registered voters participated in the midterm elections. (File Photo By Elmer B. Domingo – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0)

MANILA – Filipino voters in Hong Kong have registered the highest turnout in the recent May 13 mid-term elections, according to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) data.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec)-Office for Overseas Voting (OFOV) data showed that the Philippine Consulate General (PCG) in Hong Kong has recorded 36,009 overseas Filipino voters who joined in the overseas absentee voting (OAV) held from April 30 to May 13.

There are 87,969 registered Filipino voters, majority of them household service workers, in Hong Kong.

Dubai PCG posted the second highest turnout with 28,487 votes, followed by Singapore (25,110), Abu Dhabi (15,806), Kuwait (15,558), Riyadh (14,616), Jeddah (11,484), Tokyo (11,484), San Francisco (9,630) and New York (9,045).

The Comelec said a total of 334,242 overseas voters or 18.34 percent of the 1,822,173 million registered voters participated in the midterm elections.

The figure is higher than 15.63 percent turnout in the 2013 midterm elections but lower than the presidential elections in 2004 (64%), in 2010 (26%), and in 2016 (31%).

Comelec is tasked to administer the elections nationwide while the Department of Foreign Affairs has been designated to implement the 2013 Overseas Absentee Voting Act (Republic No.

9189) which provides for a system for citizens of the Philippines currently residing or working abroad to vote in national-level elections.