OFWs had historically lobbied hard and long for the opportunity to vote, which eventually led to the implementation of the overseas absentee voting law in 2004.

Yet only around 20,000 out of a registered 111,952 voters in the Kingdom have cast their ballots as of Thursday afternoon, despite voting centers opening on April 10. OFWs have until 1 p.m. on May 10 to vote.

The country is currently electing its president, vice president and 12 senators, among others.

Philippine Ambassador Antonio P. Villamor told Arab News that 8,969 of the 52,869 registered absentee voters have so far voted at the Philippine Embassy and the Philippine International School in Buraidah (PISB).

"However, this figure is 16.9 percent higher compared to the first three weeks of the OAV (overseas absentee voting) in 2007," he told Arab News.

He urged all registered OFWs to vote before balloting closes.

Of the 37,083 registered voters in Jeddah, 5,246 have voted. In Alkhobar, of the approximate 22,000 registered voters, around 3,800 have cast their ballots.

Diplomats in Saudi Arabia have blamed accessibility, lack of transportation to voting centers and obstructive sponsors as among the reasons for the low turnout.

Villamor claimed that he already foresaw accessibility as problem during the registration period.

"OFWs are all over Saudi Arabia. If there's a mass transit system in which transportation is faster, cheaper and faster, it would have been easier for OFWs to travel,” he said.

Earlier, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Manila was told that more voting centers needed to be set up in Saudi Arabia, but the requests were not heeded.

Comelec have only approved five voting centers in the Kingdom, including the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh, the Philippine International School in Alkhobar (IPSA), PISB and the Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah.

"OFWs could only vote at the consulate. We were not allowed to have additional voting centers although we were allowed to have registration centers in Khamis Mushayt, Taif, Abha and Yanbu," said Consul Leo Tito L. Ausan Jr. of the Consulate General in Jeddah.

He said that the distance between Abha and Jeddah is about 770 km, adding that it would be difficult for an ordinary registered absentee voter who is not earning a lot to travel that sort of distance.

There were workers who were lucky enough to be provided with transportation by their respective companies, including employees of the Saudi Cement Company in Dammam.

"With a few days left, I call on fellow Filipinos in the Eastern region to go to IPSA in Alkhobar and cast their ballots before the election ends," said Des T. Dicang of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in the Eastern Province.