MANILA — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) reported Wednesday that more than 1.6 million Filipinos overseas have registered as Overseas Absentee Voters (OAVs) for the 2019 midterm polls.
Comelec’s Office for Overseas Voting (OFOV) head, Commissioner Luie Tito Guia, said the current number of registrants, totaling 1,600,746, has surpassed the previous record-high of 1,376,067 set for the 2016 presidential elections.
Guia projected that the number of registrants will be close to 2 million at the end of the registration period in September.
“At the current rate of the overseas voter registration, we are confident that by the end of registration period, there will be around 1.9 million overseas voters for the 2019 national elections,” he said in a statement Wednesday.
Guia encouraged qualified Filipinos abroad to register as OAVs.
Qualified to register as overseas voters are Filipino citizens who expect to be abroad from April 13 to May 13, 2019 during the overseas voting period for the 2019 elections; at least 18 years old on May 13, 2019; and not otherwise disqualified by law.
Applications may be filed at the nearest Philippine foreign service posts abroad, including the three Manila Economic and Cultural Offices in Taiwan.
Registration began on Dec. 1, 2016 and will run until Sept. 30, 2018. (PNA)
