Senate Majority Leader Francis Tolentino welcomed the progress of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) in introducing internet-based voting for the first time for Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in next year’s midterm elections.
In his regular radio program “Usapang Tol”, Tolentino was informed by COMELEC Chair George Erwin Garcia that 1.5 million OFWs have registered for the 2025 polls, after the deadline to sign up for overseas voting lapsed on September 30.
“1.5 million OFWs have registered for the 2025 polls.”
Garcia also reported to the legislator how the commission has been conducting an information drive in the last two months to educate OFWs in various countries about internet voting – including the mechanics and systems in place to ensure that their votes will be secured and counted.
To recall, it was the lawmaker who pushed the COMELEC to adopt online voting to encourage more overseas Filipinos to register and vote, in a bid to address the perennially low turnout in overseas absentee voting in past elections.
Under the previous system, registered overseas Filipinos are allowed to vote two ways: in person at the Philippine embassy, consulate, or appointed polling site in their host country; or by mailing their ballot to the said foreign service offices. This tedious process discouraged voters’ participation, and has even disenfranchised many overseas Filipinos, including sea based OFWs, he noted.
“The active participation of OFWs in the electoral exercise is a positive sign for democracy and our country’s future.”
“Giving migrant Filipinos a fast, convenient and secure means of casting their vote online will surely encourage them to exercise their right of suffrage. The active participation of OFWs in the electoral exercise is a positive sign for democracy and our country’s future,” Tolentino stressed.
Garcia said that internet voting has been warmly received by OFW communities, as he also thanked Tolentino for pushing the commission to pioneer online voting beginning the elections next year.
