By Ferdinand Patinio/PNA
MANILA — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said Tuesday that 41 out of the country’s 83 overseas posts will use vote-counting machines (VCM) in next year’s mid-term polls.
Comelec Minute Resolution No. 18-1124 states that almost half of Philippine posts abroad are set to use the automated election system under the overseas absentee voting scheme.
“The appropriate mode of voting to be adopted by posts (were made by) taking into consideration the recommendations of posts based on the number of registered voters, the accessibility of posts to overseas voters, and the efficiency of the posts’ adopted mode of voting in the 2016 elections,” it said.
The 41 posts are Agana, Calgary, Chicago, Honolulu, Los Angeles, New York, Ottawa, San Francisco, Toronto, Vancouver, Washington, Brunei, Canberra, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Macau, Kaohsiung, Taichung, Taipei, Osaka, Seoul, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo, Wellington, Athens, London, Madrid, Milan, Rome, Abu Dhabi, Beirut, Doha, Dubai, Jeddah, Kuwait, Manama, Muscat, Al-Khobar, Riyadh, and Tel Aviv.
Meanwhile, Filipino voters will use the manual system either through the post or personally in other nations within the jurisdiction of 42 countries/posts.
Postal voting will be used in 29 posts — Brasilia, Buenos Aires, Mexico, Santiago, Bangkok, Beijing, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Hanoi, Islamabad, Port Moresby, Yangon, Ankara, Berlin, Berne, Brussels, Budapest, Geneva, Lisbon, Moscow, Oslo, Paris, Prague, The Hague, Vienna, Warsaw, Abuja, Cairo, and Pretoria.
On the other hand, 13 posts will use personal voting in Dhaka, Dili, Jakarta, Manado, New Delhi, Phnom Penh, Shanghai, Vientiane, Xiamen, Vatican, Amman, Nairobi, and Tehran.
According to data from the Overseas Voting Secretariat, some 1.9 million Filipinos abroad are expected to vote in the May 2019 mid-term elections.
