Overseas absentee voter turnout hits 12%

More than halfway through the month-long overseas absentee voting (OAV), only a little over 70,000 Filipinos abroad have cast their ballots as of Tuesday. In a release posted on its website, the Department of Foreign Affairs said 72,034 overseas Filipinos have voted for the 2010 general elections as of April 27, or 17 days since the month-long OAV started. The figure represents just 12% of the 589,830 registered Filipino voters in the various Philippine embassies and consulates general worldwide. According to the DFA, majority of the voters were in Hong Kong (21,459), Riyadh (5,897) and Singapore (4,199). Other Philippine diplomatic posts with the highest number of voters are the Philippine Consulate General (PCG) in Jeddah (3,345), the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Al Khobar (2,545), the PCG in Los Angeles (2,162), the Embassy in Kuwait (2,160), the Embassy in Abu Dhabi (1,682), the PCG in New York (1,467) and the Embassy in London (1,369). Despite the low turnout, the department is confident it will increase in the following days leading to the end of the OAV on May 10. "We are confident that the number of voters will increase in the remaining days of overseas absentee voting and that our Embassies and Consulates General will exceed their 2004 and 2007 figures," DFA-OAV Secretariat Chairperson and Undersecretary Rafael E. Seguis said. Some embassies and consulates general also reported that they have already surpassed the number of votes they received during the 2004 and the 2007 elections, the release added. Overseas Filipinos voted for the presidential, vice-presidential, senatorial and party-list races in the 2004 elections, and for the senatorial and party-list races in the 2007 elections. Voter turnout in the first OAV in the 2004 presidential elections was at 65%, but dropped to just 16% in 2007 Undersecretary Seguis also said that embassies and PCGs continue to encourage Filipinos overseas to participate in the elections, as well as urge them to vote early to avoid long queues at the polling places on the last day of voting. Most Philippine embassies and consulates are open to the public seven days a week from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. until May 10 at 6:00 pm (Philippine time), according to the DFA. This year, overseas Filipinos are given the opportunity to cast their votes for a President, a Vice President, twelve senators, and a party-list representative.—JV, GMANews.TV