Comelec drops 1M target for overseas voting

By Kristine L. Alave
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Posted date: May 18, 2009

MANILA, Philippines—The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will not be able to register one million overseas Filipinos for the 2010 elections, contrary to past predictions, according to poll officials.

Comelec commissioner Nicodemo Ferrer, in charge of the overseas absentee voting, changed his previous estimate of one million overseas voters, saying the poll body would be lucky to get 500,000 absentee voters.

Ferrer, in a report, said the poll body scaled back its figures after it de-listed 132,820 overseas voters from the national registry in April, leaving the current figure of active absentee voters at 371,304.

“We realize that we will have a hard time registering a total of 628,696 in order to complete the one million mark,” he said. “At present, we will be more satisfied if we can equal, if not surpass the registration figure in 2003 (361,231) so that the overall figure will be in the vicinity of more than half a million voters,” he added.

The Comelec removed 130,000 migrant voters from the list after they failed to participate in the past two national elections.