The Philippine Commission on Elections (Comelec) is looking at registering 1.6 million overseas Filipino voters for the 2022 national elections.
This, after the electoral body discovered 1.42 million registered overseas voters as of May 19 when it “cleansed” its records by removing multiple registrants in the system.
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However, with barely three months left for the deadline of voter registration on September 30, the poll body remained cautiously optimistic about achieving this goal.
Highlighting constant contact with the Department of Foreign Affairs for reaching the 1.6 million registered voters, Philip Marin, lawyer at Comelec Office of the Overseas Voting, told media on June 11 that these figures could be achieved, if friends and relatives of even uninterested voters there should convince them to vote.
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However, the poll body expected a “rough estimate” of 580,212 overseas Filipinos to participate in the 2022 elections, he said.
Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said the COVID-19 pandemic had been factored in the poll body’s expectations. (AW)
