JEDDAH, 18 February 2007 — If you have registered as an absentee voter, check the Philippine Commission on Elections (Comelec) website, www.comelec.gov.ph, or specifically http://www.comelec.gov.ph/oav/oav, to make sure your name is included in the list.
This notice comes from the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh, which announced that the Comelec has approved its 2007 Certified List of Overseas Absentee Voters (CLOAV) on Jan. 30.
Ambassador Antonio P. Villamor, according to an embassy press statement, said those who have registered in the Kingdom are encouraged to verify the list for possible corrections, inclusions or exclusions.
Of the estimated 8 million overseas Filipinos, 503,151 have registered to vote in the Philippines' midterm elections in May. Overseas absentee voters are allowed to vote only for candidates for the 12 Senate seats at stake and party-list seats for the House of Representatives.
Of the total number of registered overseas absentee voters, one-fifth or 105,427 are based in Saudi Arabia, according to preliminary figures from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA's) secretariat for Overseas Absentee Voting.
In the press statement, Villamor urged voters to call the attention of the Comelec should they notice any mistake in the CLOAV.
The embassy’s press statement did not give those who have no access to the Internet an alternative way of verifying their names.
But a member of a volunteer organization helping distressed Filipinos in the Kingdom has a suggestion: Ask friends, relatives or colleagues who have access to the Internet to do the checking.
“If you are a member of an organization, you can also ask your leaders to verify on your behalf. The officers of community groups could also do their members a favor by checking the CLOAV and providing every member with a list of those who are included,” the community leader said.
The CLOAV contains separate lists for those registered in Riyadh and Jeddah.