Comelec: Overseas voting in Myanmar, Thailand starts April 13

By Ferdinand Patinio, Philippine News Agency

Comelec Chairperson George Erwin Garcia said the OAV in the two quake-hit Southeast Asian states runs until May 12, the election day in the Philippines. (Pexels Photo)

MANILA – The overseas absentee voting (OAV) in Myanmar and Thailand, both jolted by a massive earthquake, will push through as scheduled on April 13, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said Wednesday.

Comelec Chairperson George Erwin Garcia said the OAV in the two quake-hit Southeast Asian states runs until May 12, the election day in the Philippines.

“In Myanmar, we will have postal voting. We will send ballots to Filipinos there. There are only more than 300 of them,” he said in an interview after the launching of the nationwide distribution of Voter’s Information Sheet (VIS) in Pasay City.

“We spoke to the embassy in Myanmar and they said there is no problem with the infrastructure and that Filipinos in Myanmar are properly accounted for.”

He explained that they would send the ballots through diplomatic pouches to be secured and protected.

After the elections, Garcia said the ballots would be mass-fed into automated counting machines (ACMs) to count the votes cast.

“Machines will begin deployment this April 4, not only in the country but also abroad in countries that need machines,” he added.

Meanwhile, more than 8,000 Filipino voters in Thailand would use internet voting.

Garcia urged overseas voters to enroll in internet voting to be able to participate in the national polls.

“To our countrymen, I hope we will enroll now. The link where you can enroll is there (comelec website: @www.comelec.gov.ph) You must enroll to vote. Voting starts April 13th until May 12th. You cannot vote even if you are registered if you are not enrolled,” the Comelec chief added.

There are over 1.2 million registered overseas voters. They will be electing candidates for national positions only — 12 senators and one party-list group.