The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has urged registered Filipino voters based overseas to exercise their right and participate in the overseas absentee voting (OAV) for the 2010 elections, scheduled to start Saturday. “The overseas Filipinos are our new heroes. Beyond the economic contributions and the sacrifices they do to ensure their families of a good life, they are now also given their political right through the OAV. It is time that they exercise the right to vote,” DFA Undersecretary Rafael Seguis said in a statement posted on the department's website. Seguis also serves as chair of the OAV Secretariat. OAV Secretaruat vice-chair Nestor Padalhin likewise assured the public that this year's OAV will be “honest, orderly and peaceful.” There are 589,830 overseas voters for the May 2010 elections certified by the Resident Election Registration Board of the Comelec. These voters will be casting or sending in their votes in the 93 Philippine embassies and consulates general around the world. The OAV will last for 31 days starting April 10 at 8:00 A.M. (designated country time) until May 10 at 6:00 P.M., the DFA said. Daily voting schedules will thus be at least eight hours a day, it added, and embassies and consulates general may adopt a flexible schedule to accommodate the most number of voters. All votes, including those sent through the mail, should be received by the end of the voting period. “Our cmbassies and consulates general are well-prepared to conduct the overseas absentee voting process. Our personnel have undergone a three-day training in Manila last February to prepare them for their duties in this election,” Seguis said. He added similar trainings in Los Angeles, Madrid, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, Hong Kong and Singapore were also held as part of preparations for the elections Overseas voters may only elect the president, vice president, 12 senators and one party-list representative. The OAV involves three modes of voting: automated counting in Hong Kong and Singapore, personal voting, and postal voting. The DFA thus reminded voters of the automated and personal modes of voting to bring their passports or other personal identification documents. In the automated mode, voters will have their names verified against the list of registered voters by the Special Board of Election Inspectors, similar to the process in the Philippines. Voters will be given a ballot, a folder and a pen, and will then be directed to the voting area. Candidates' names will be listed in alphabetical order on the ballot, and voters will have to shade the ovals beside the names of their chosen candidates. The ballot will then be fed into the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machine which will read the votes on both sides of the ballot. The voters' index finger will be marked with indelible ink, and they will affix their thumb mark in the list of voters.The same process goes for personal voting, except that a compartment will be provided for voters to drop their ballots in. Postal voters meanwhile will receive a mailing packet containing their ballot and the ballot envelope. They will have to accomplish the ballot, affix their right thumb mark at the lower portion, tear off that portion and place it inside the ballot envelope. Before sending their ballots back by mail to their respective Embassies or Consulates General, voters will have to affix their name and signature on the left-hand corner of the ballot envelopes. An illustrated instruction on postal voting can be found here. Registered Filipino seafarers may likewise personally vote at the Embassy or Consulate General where they are currently docked.
