Comelec suspends overseas voting in Shanghai, mulls pause in 7 other areas

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has postponed the start of overseas voting in Shanghai due to the COVID-19 surge in the Chinese city, and is studying the possibility of suspending polls in seven other countries and cities.

“I think we will be declaring a suspension of election in certain areas like in Baghdad, Iraq; Algeria; Chad; Tunisia; Libya; in Islamabad, Afghanistan; and in the Ukraine warzone,” Comelec Commissioner Marlon Casquejo said in a news briefing on Wednesday.

There are a total of 127 registered voters in these countries.

Casquejo said voting will also be suspended in Shanghai, China, after the imposition of a lockdown due to the increase in COVID-19 cases.

He said that there were around 1,600 Filipino voters in the city.

“Recently, we approved in the en banc the suspension of voting, this coming April 10, for the post of Shanghai,” Cascuejo said.

“Alam naman natin ang nangyari sa Shanghai [We know what happened in Shanghai]. There is an indefinite lockdown in Shanghai. But once the lockdown is, then we will proceed with the voting of Shanghai,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Comelec official said there are a total of 1,697,215 registered Filipino voters living overseas.

The poll body has set the overseas voting period from April 10 to May 9, 2022. — BM, GMA News