JEDDAH, 21 March 2004 — If you are registered to vote in the forthcoming Philippine election and the voter ID you received is defective, just don’t do anything.
The Philippine Consulate General here issued this reminder yesterday amid complaints by many OFWs of incomplete voter IDs, such as missing pictures, signatures or thumb marks.
According to consulate administrative officer Taha Guinomla, those who have defective ID cards should not try to correct them because the Commission on Election (Comelec) in Manila has issued a memorandum warning that IDs that have been tampered with could lead to the disenfranchisement of a registered voter.
Guinomla said such defective ID cards, so long as they are not tampered with, would still be honored when the holders come and vote.
Overseas Filipinos will vote for the first time for the next Philippine president, vice president, 12 senators, and a party-list representative, from April 11 to May 10. Seafarers have started casting their votes since March 11.
“The Comelec will either replace or do something about the ID’s with discrepancies,” Guinomla said.
“All names appearing in the official list of all registered voters but are reported to be missing shall likewise be taken action by the Comelec accordingly,” he added.
The consulate in Jeddah and the embassy in Riyadh had started distributing the voter IDs last week.
