Earlier OFW vote enlistment in Sokor

By Kristine L. Alave
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Posted date: November 29, 2008


MANILA, Philippines -- The Commission on Elections has started its overseas absentee voting registration in South Korea and installed new registration posts in an effort to encourage more overseas Filipino workers to participate in the 2010 elections.
In a Comelec en banc resolution dated November 20, the Comelec granted the Philippine embassy in Seoul permission to register Filipino voters starting today, November 29.

According to the Comelec, the embassy in South Korea requested an early registration because it was to hold a conference today that was to be attended by the Filipino community in South Korea.

“Seoul PE [Philippine Embassy] sees the gathering as a platform to promote registration and dissemination of information on Overseas Absentee Voting (OAV) matters,” the resolution said.

The South Korea registration is ahead of the general OAV registration by two months.

The Comelec recently rescheduled the registration for OAV to February 1 instead of December 1, saying technical preparations for the activity were yet to be put in place.

Aside from allowing the Philippine embassy in South Korea to hold registration early, the Comelec also issued a resolution creating new registration posts in four cities in Europe and Asia.

According to the Comelec resolution, overseas Filipinos can register at the consulates in Frankfurt, Germany; Oslo, Norway; Barcelona, Spain; and Macau, China.

The creation of new registration posts is in line with the Comelec’s aim to encourage Filipinos abroad to vote in the 2010 national and local elections.

Election Commissioner Nicodemo Ferrer, who is in charge of absentee voting, said they expect one million OFWs to enlist for the elections, double the registrants in the 2007 mid-term elections.