By Ferdinand Patinio/PNA
MANILA – Nearly 35,000 individuals, including members of national and local media, civilian state workers and uniformed personnel such as police and military troops, will be voting early as local absentee voters (LAV) in the May 13 mid-term polls.
Based on data from the Committee on Local Absentee Voting (CLAV) of the Commission on Elections (Comelec), a total of 34,693 applicants have been received as of March 23 from all the regions in the country.
The applicants consist of government personnel from the regional offices of the Comelec, Department of Education, National Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, Bureau of Fire Protection, and Department of Labor and Employment.
Members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police, Philippine Navy, Philippine Air Force, Philippine Coast Guard also signed up for LAV.
The regions where many government employees have applied to vote early are Caraga and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, including Isabela City and Cotabato city with 6,933; Central Luzon, Calabarzon, and Mimaropa, 6,851; and Davao and Soccsksargen, 6,363.
Meanwhile, the total number of applicants for the National Capital Region is 1,317.
The CLAV also revealed that a total of 5,739 applicants were not processed as they were filed beyond the filing deadline on March 14.
Local absentee voters will have three days to cast their votes for the forthcoming polls on April 29 and 30 and May 1.
The applicants are expected to be on duty on Election Day, May 13, 2019. They will be voting for senators and party-list organizations only.
The LAV ballots will be counted in the afternoon of Election Day.
