Garcia wants online voting for overseas voters, special schedule for PWDs, elderly

Commission on Elections commissioner George Garcia said Sunday that he will push for a legislation allowing overseas Filipinos to vote online, and give senior citizens and persons with disabilities (PWDs) early voting privilege in succeeding elections.

“Ako po ay nagko-commit sa inyo na ipu-push natin ‘yung legislation na mas maaga ... early voting for senior citizens and PWDs kahit isang linggo man lang, kagaya ng sa mga media persons, para hindi sila kasabay na nakapila sa nakararami at maging kaaya-aya sa kanila ang pagboto nila,” he said in an interview on Super Radyo dzBB.

(I promise to push for a legislation that would allow early voting for senior citizens and PWDs, at least for a week, in order to make voting a pleasant experience for them.)

“At baka pwede nang pag-isipan ang internet voting para sa ating mga overseas Filipinos para naman mas makaboto sila at hindi na sila aalis sa mga pinagta-trabuhan nila” (May be we can also consider online voting for overseas Filipinos), he added.

Also, he said that the poll body has learned a lot from the May 9, 2022 elections, and promised that he will work to address some of the issues that arose from the recently-concluded electoral process.

He also reiterated that he would propose to require candidates to attend debates in every election.

Earlier, Garcia said he will not allow the problems in the May 9 elections to happen in the 2025 midterm polls, noting that among the issues encountered during recent polls were the long lines of voters, and a number of malfunctioning vote counting machines (VCMs). —LBG, GMA News