THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Friday, May 16, 2025, admitted that it is unable to understand why the voter turnout for overseas voters remained low despite the introduction of the Online Voting and Counting System (OVCS) in the 2025 midterm polls.
In a press briefing, Comelec Chairman George Garcia on Friday said they cannot explain the surprising low voter turnout for overseas voting even though internet voting has been introduced.
"We cannot understand why (they didn't vote)... They didn't need to go to the embassies. They can just vote via the internet," said Garcia.
"Contrary to our expectations... We cannot really understand this," he added.
The poll chief said the voter turnout in the Philippine posts that used the Automated Counting Machines (ACMs) even fared better than those using the OVCS.
"Turns out, the voter turnout in the areas that voted through ACMs performed better," Garcia said.
Data shared by the Comelec showed that there are a total of 221,284 actual voters that voted among the 1,220,942 registered overseas voters from 77 areas using the OVCS or a voter turnout of 18.12 percent.
On the other hand, a total of 6,727 actual voters voted among the 20,748 registered overseas voters from 16 areas using the ACMs or a voter turnout of 32.43 percent. (Anton Banal/SunStar Philippines)