Comelec urges 205,000 overseas Filipinos to reactivate registration

The Commission on Elections on Wednesday urged the 205,697 overseas absentee voters whose records were deactivated after failing to cast their votes in the last two national elections to reactivate their registration status.

Any voter whose status is deactivated must reactivate in order to participate in the May 2019 midterm polls.

For overseas absentee voters, they can do this by going to the embassy or consulate in the country where they are based, or the Office for Overseas Voting (OFOV) in Comelec main office in Intramuros, Manila or their local Comelec office if they are currently in the Philippines.

The Comelec said the registration period for Filipinos overseas resumed on December 1, 2016 and will end on September 30, 2018.

“We would like to ensure that every Filipino who is qualified to vote, whether or not they are in the country, is given representation in the strengthening of democracy through the holding of inclusive elections,” said Comelec Commissioner Arthur Lim, head of the OFOV.

Based on Comelec data as of October 17, 2016, 58,992 of the deactivated voters are land-based while 146,705 are seafarers.

The poll body said it is ready to receive one million overseas absentee registrants, which would bring the total number of registered voters at 2.3 million.

There were a total of 1,376,067 registered OAV in the May 2016 elections where they picked candidates for national positions namely: president, vice president, senators and party-list. — Virgil Lopez/RSJ, GMA News