Philippine missions set for elections

Philippine diplomatic missions are preparing for their country’s midterm elections due on May 13.
However, overseas polling will take place a month in advance. It will begin in the Kingdom on April 13 and end on May 13. Saudi Arabia hosts the largest number of overseas Filipino voters. The voters are eligible to vote for a presidential candidate, vice president, 12 senators and one party-list organization.
The autonomous election commission (Comelec) has decided to use state-of-the-art voting machines for the first time at seven overseas stations, including Riyadh and Jeddah. Called precinct count optical scan machines, they will be installed in the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh and the Jeddah Consulate next week.
“A special team from Manila will train embassy and consular employees to operate and handle the automated voting machines,” said Red Genotiva, vice consul at the Philippine Embassy. “The diplomatic missions in the Kingdom are getting ready for the polling process,” he told Arab News.
The number of registered voters in the Kingdom is fewer compared to the total number of Filipinos here. Even among the registered voters, only a small percentage turned up to cast their votes in the last two elections.