SEVERAL overseas Filipinos (OFs) have taken to social media to voice their frustrations over the online voting system, which officially began on Sunday, April 13, 2025.
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) initiated the month-long pilot program for Filipinos abroad as part of its efforts to modernize and expand voter access. However, within hours of its rollout, the system came under fire due to technical issues and alleged lack of transparency.
Many OFWs reported problems such as the absence of vote confirmation, difficulty accessing the platform, and delays in the interface. Some also claimed that the Quick Response (QR) code intended to serve as proof that their votes were properly cast, displayed inaccurate results.
Jefferson Salazar Bonoan, a Filipino migrant based in Singapore, shared screenshots and recounted his experience with the online voting system.
"Today, I exercised my right to vote as an Overseas Filipino Worker here in Singapore, and it was the first time I voted online. I believe it is my right to verify that my votes were cast correctly, but I am extremely disappointed that I couldn’t do so," he wrote.
Bonoan added that after casting his vote, the platform showed a QR code with a message, saying, "YOU CAN VERIFY YOUR BALLOT HAS BEEN CAST CORRECTLY AT ANY MOMENT USING THE FOLLOWING QR CODE." However, upon scanning the code, it displayed names he did not vote for.
Another OFW from Singapore, who requested anonymity, also expressed frustration, claiming her supposed votes for a particular candidate and party were not reflected when she scanned the QR code.
“I voted too yesterday—straight PDP-Laban plus two senators—but on the QR, some names were not the ones I voted for,” her message read.
Several OFWs compared the current system to previous elections, saying that with the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines, they received printed receipts showing the names of the candidates they selected, an assurance lacking in the current online system.
Despite a pending legal challenge before the Supreme Court (SC) questioning the constitutionality and security of online voting, Comelec proceeded with the implementation.
The online voting period for overseas Filipinos will run for 30 days and end at 7 p.m. on May 12, in line with the official close of voting in the Philippines.
This marks the first time online voting has been implemented for overseas voters in the country. While Comelec has promoted the initiative as a step toward a more inclusive and accessible electoral process, early feedback indicates the need for urgent improvements in transparency and system reliability.
Addressing concerns earlier this week, Comelec Chairperson George Garcia explained that voters would not be able to see the actual names they voted for after casting their ballots due to security concerns.
“So paano po ma-check, Chairman, kung ‘yung lumabas sa machine o pumasok sa voting system ay ‘yun talaga ang nilagay ng botante? Yan po ang gagawin later sa random manual audit at ng PPCRV at Namfrel kasi papayagan sila na ma-translate sa human readable ang lahat ng ‘yan,” Garcia told national reporters.
(So how can we check, Chairman, if what came out of the machine or went into the voting system is really what the voter marked? That’s what will be done later during the random manual audit and by the PPCRV [Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting] and Namfrel [National Citizens' Movement for Free Elections], because they will be allowed to translate all of that into something human-readable).
The PPCRV and Namfrel are long-standing election watchdogs tasked with safeguarding transparency and credibility in the electoral process.
SunStar Davao made several attempts on Monday, April 14, to contact the Comelec-Davao Region regarding the issue, but as of press time, no official response has been received.