More absentee voters in 2013 than 2010

WHILE the Commission on Elections (Comelec) is not as optimistic, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) reported Sunday that the ongoing overseas absentee voting (OAV) registration program for the 2013 polls has managed to attract more Filipinos abroad than in the 2010 presidential elections.

In a statement, the DFA said it managed to surpass the number of new OAV registrants during the 2010 polls with 249,391 as of August 31.

“Although the upcoming 2013 elections is senatorial, the number continues to rise. This indicates the increasing political consciousness of Filipinos overseas,” said the DFA.

During the 2010 presidential election, the government garnered a total of 235,950 new OAV registrants during the same period.

With the number of new registrants, the DFA said the number of OAV registrants for the upcoming 2013 senatorial and party-list elections had gone up to 839,221 owing to the 589,830 stock total.

Earlier, the Comelec said it resigned to the possibility that it may not be able to reach its target of registering one million in the OAV.

For its part, Migrante International urged Filipinos abroad to register in the OAV for them to exercise their rights of suffrage.

“We still believe that Filipinos abroad, as absentee voters, could be a potent swing vote that could win a nationally elected position,” said Migrante in a statement.

The group said there is nothing wrong if its chapters and networks abroad would join the Philippine government in attempting to register at least one million Filipinos for the OAV.

The Comelec already set the OAV registration to end on October 31. (HDT/Sunnex)