OAV turnout in Saudi still low but increasing

Filipino voters in Saudi Arabia trooped to polling centers in the Kingdom to pull up however slightly the overseas absentee voting (OAV) turnout on Thursday and Friday, when workers usually have their days off. As of 6:00 p.m. Friday, the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh recorded an increase of over 60 percent in the voter turnout for the capital city, compared with the Wednesday night figure, but still just about 5% of the total number of registered voters there. Vice Consul Roussel Reyes told GMANews.TV that from only 1,000 voters when the voting center in Riyadh and the field voting precinct in Burayda closed on Wednesday, turnout went up to 2,639 as of 6 p.m. Friday. There are 52,869 registered Filipino voters in Jeddah. In Jeddah, the Philippine Consul General likewise had over 1,400 voters as of Friday, or just over 4% of the 37,083 registered voters there, according to Consul Leo Tito Ausan Jr. In the voting center in the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Al Khobar, meanwhile, 1,300 Filipinos have so far voted out of the 21,537 voters in the area, according to Labor Attache David Des Dicang. The three voting centers, however, have recorded a “significant" number of voters who were unable to vote due to problems with the certified list of overseas absentee voters (CLOAV). Reyes said some of the voters, most of whom have not voted in the last two OAV’s in the Kingdom, were unable to find their names on the list. Others meanwhile had their names in Al Khobar even if they registered in Riyadh. A case of a land-based voter with his name placed on the seafarers’ list was also reported. “We are doing everything we can to address these problems. We have established help desks in the voting centers, and we are also filing reports with the Commission on Elections and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) daily for resolution," Reyes said. The three Philippine posts in the Kingdom have also sent out letters to employers urging them to allow their Filipino workers to go out and vote, as well as sought the help of media outfits to encourage voting. “We are very optimistic that turnout will be higher this year. We can see there is a great sentiment in people to vote in the 2010 presidential elections," said Ausan. The POLO in Al Khobar is willing to extend beyond the eight-hour regular voting period to accommodate the influx of voters, especially during Thursdays and Fridays, as well as during the last few days of the election, Dicang added. The OAV started on April 10 and will last until May 10. The DFA has recorded over 16,000 overseas voters who have voted as of April 14, out of 589,830 registered Filipino voters worldwide. (See: Over 16,000 Pinoys vote on first 4 days of OAV) –JV, GMANews.TV