By Joyce Ann L. Rocamora/PNA
MANILA — The Philippine Embassy in Japan is now gearing up for the upcoming overseas absentee voting for the national and local elections (NLE) which is set to start on April 13, a ranking official said.
“The Embassy expects many of our kababayan in Japan will actively participate in the elections this year,” Consul General Robespierre Bolivar told the Philippine News Agency, as he noted a surge of interest in the elections during the registration for new voters last year.
In 2018, the Embassy surpassed by 130 percent the Philippine government forecasts for new voter registration in Japan.
As the elections near, Bolivar stressed that the Embassy remains “very proactive and aggressive” on social media in promoting the 2019 polls to attract a high number of voter turnout.
Filipinos in Japan will cast their ballots by mail– the best mode of absentee voting for Japan, according to the envoy.
“The postal service in Japan is very efficient, perhaps one of the best in the world. Furthermore, many of our kababayan live outside of Tokyo and Osaka and may not be able to travel to these cities just to vote,” he said.
Bolivar said the Comelec resolved that Japan, along with some other countries, will use Automated Voting.
Under this system, voters will receive their blank ballots by mail at the postal address they submitted during the Overseas Voting Registration Period.
They will accomplish their respective ballots, seal and mail these back to the Embassy in Tokyo or the Consulate General in Osaka using the Comelec mailing envelopes. These ballots will then be fed into an automated counting machine at the Embassy or Consulate General.
“From what I understand of the process, these automated machines will also be responsible for generating the election results, which is basically the tally of how many votes each candidate got during the one-month voting period until May 13th,” Bolivar said.
The voting period for overseas absentee voters will start on April 13 until May 13. At present, there are over 75,000 overseas voters based in Japan.
Within the jurisdiction of the Embassy in Tokyo in Eastern Japan, the Embassy registered a total of 39,788 voters. Of this number, 22,593 are Filipinos who registered for the first time or who transferred their registration to Japan.
The Philippine Consulate General in Osaka, on the other hand, registered 35,385 overseas voters in Western Japan.
Asked if there are plans to improve the system for overseas absentee voting, Bolivar said automated postal voting is so far “still the best mode” of voting for Japan.
“As soon as we are able to assess the conduct of the 2019 overseas voting system, we will submit to Comelec (Commission on Elections) any observations or recommendations we, or the voting public, may have,” he added.
