The first day of overseas absentee voting commenced on April 13 and an OFW who hails from Zamboanga was the first to cast his vote among the 437 registered voters in the Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The 28-year-old systems analyst, Leviticus De La Torre, told Jeddah PCG that he considered casting his vote as early as the first day a “patriotic duty”.
At exactly 8AM on April 13, six precincts were opened by the Jeddah PCG to conduct checking of voting machines and briefing to poll watchers. After all preliminaries, voting for the May 2019 National Elections promptly began.
Officials said that the first day of overseas voting in Jeddah PCG was generally peaceful and orderly.
Among the 325,000 registered voters in the western region of Saudi Arabia, a total of 734 voters cast their ballots on the 2nd day.
Consul General Edgar Badajos said that voter turnout is expected to increase as the month-long election continues.
Voting period for the May 2019 National Elections is from April 13 until May 13, 8AM to 5PM, except on the last day where voting is from 8AM to 1PM.
Photo from Mr. Ronaldo Z. Concha and Jeddah PCG
