(Screengrab from PTV)
MANILA – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is hopeful that the introduction of internet voting will encourage more Filipinos living and working abroad to register as voters in the 2025 midterm elections.
"We really expect online voting to be the key in increasing the voter turnout abroad. This is because with internet voting, wherever they may be, as long as there is internet signal, their gadgets are enrolled, they can cast their votes," Comelec spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco said in a Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon briefing Friday.
Laudiangco reported that so far, there are some 100,000 applicants to be registered voters.
"When Filipinos abroad learned of the internet voting, the number of registrants gradually went up. Now, we have some 100,000 new registrants. We expect more to get registered in the coming weeks," he added.
Laudiangco said the top three areas where there are many Filipino overseas voters are in Southeast Asia, US/Canada and the Middle East.
Currently, there are some 1.1 million Filipino registered voters overseas.
He also reminded overseas voters who will be using internet voting to register their gadgets as part of its security measures.
"And as part of its security measures, there will be authentication, much like online banking, online financial institution. We must register these gadgets," he added.
Last Tuesday, the Comelec-Special Bids and Awards Committee (SBAC) declared the Joint Venture of SMS Global Technologies, Inc. & Sequent Tech Inc. as having the lowest calculated bid (LCB) for the online voting and counting system (OVCS) project at PHP112 million.
The project has an approved budget of PHP465.8 million. (PNA)
