Headline
No extension for overseas voting
MANILA – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) thumbed down the idea of extending overseas voting (OV) as it will go against the Constitution.
Commissioner Marlon Casquejo said extending the voting period for Filipinos overseas is not possible since the law allows it to be held only until the actual election day in the Philippines.
There are 1,697,090 registered Filipino voters overseas.
“The extension is not happening because we only have until May 9, Philippine time. We cannot extend beyond May. That would be a violation of the Constitution,” he said during the vote counting machine (VCM) demonstration at a mall in Pasay City on Monday.
The idea of extending the polls came after reports that there were delays at the start of the voting period on April 10.
“The delayed arrival of ballots has already been resolved. Just a one-day delay,” Casquejo said.
He, however, said they are concerned with the 1,991 Filipino voters in Shanghai which is under lockdown due to rising Covid-19 cases.
“The only issue is really Shanghai. Let’s see what the decision en banc will be. For now, it is still suspended until such time that the lockdown is lifted,” Casquejo said.
Election paraphernalia
Meanwhile, the delivery of VCMs began during the first week of April.
“We started the delivery of VCMs to remote areas in the first and second week of April. The delivery of the ballots will start in the third week or last week,” Casquejo said.
He said they are looking to destroy defective ballots by the last week of April and subsequently reprint them.
The 178,990 defective copies so far are smudged or not perfectly cut, among others.
Stellara Florencio
April 18, 2022 at 9:02 AM
I think it is only right that our compatriots who are elsewhere vote early so that they can also choose the candidate they think is worthy of their vote.
Gian Michael De Polonia
April 18, 2022 at 12:52 PM
To Fix or Solve these Perennial Electoral Problems, COMELEC should be overhauled from top to bottom!
or else, these Problems will still be encountered in future National and Local Exercises. Please COMELEC sana mas Pahalagahan niyo po ang Kasiguraduhan ng bawat isang Boto, kaya dapat na hindi talaga kayo papapayag na magkaroon ng dayaan o anomalya, at wala ni isa sa inyo ang pwedeng masuhulan o magamit ng mga Pulitiko. Maraming Salamat po!
MARIA TERESA BELMIN
April 18, 2022 at 8:09 PM
Dapat i consider pa din nila yung mga kababayan natin na nasa mga bansa na may mga lockdown.Hindi lang naman sila mga OFW,sila din ang isa sa mga bayani natin sa kasalukuyang henerasyon kaya wag nating alisin yung karapatan nila na bumoto.Napakahalaga ng boto ng bawat isa sa atin kase napakalaking impact naman ang magagawa para sa ating bansa.Unawain din sana ng nasa Comelec yung kalagayan at sitwasyon ng ating mga kababayan na nasa ibang bansa na gustong gusto bumoto pero hindi nila magawa dahil sa mga protocol na ipinapatupad sa mga bansa na pinagta trabahuan nila.