No extension of overseas voting beyond May 9 - Comelec
By Dhel Nazario
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said on Monday, April 18, that there will be no extension of the overseas absentee voting (OAV) beyond May 9, Philippine time, the date of the National and Local Elections.
This was according to Commissioner Marlon Casquejo, who heads the Office of Overseas Voting of the Comelec. He stated that extending beyond May 9 is a violation of the Constitution.
Overseas voting started on April 10, and will end on May 9. However, there have been delays with the conduct of the elections in some countries due to logistical concerns. He said that this has been resolved since the ballots have already arrived.
"Kasi parang yung shipment dumaan pa ibang country. May mga delayed arrival pero napagalaman ko na 1 day delayed lang. Then mode of voting naman dun ay by mail, thru mail packet. Within 30 days malamang mareceive na at maibalik na nila sa embassy para mabilang boto nila (It seems that the shipment passed by another country first. I later learned that the delay was onle one day. Then the mode of voting is by mail, through mail packet. Within 30 days I'm sure that they have received and returned the ballots to the embassy for it to be counted)," he said.
Despite this, Casquejo said that they still expect a high turnout.
He also mentioned that the United States has good postal service. The embassies will also be conducting field voting by going to far-flung areas like personal service so that they can receive the ballot on time and return it on time.
On the other hand, Casquejo said that the real issue now is Shanghai where voting is currently postponed due to the ongoing Covid-19 surge occuring there. He said that they will have to wait for the decision of the Comelec en banc on it. For now, it will remain suspended until such time that the lockdown gets lifted.
But what if the lockdown lasts until May 9? That will be a problem according to Casquejo since it's in-person voting and not by mail so voters would need to personally cast their votes but with a lockdown in place, the chances are still remote.
Meanwhile, for Timor-Leste, Casquejo said that there will be a flight by Thursday. He mentioned that the problem was there was no flight through Kuala Lumpur from the Philippines, then from Kuala Lumpur to Timor Leste.
"So may 600 plus registered voters dun, madali naman hanapin yun. Sisikapin ng ating embassy na mga botante ay makaboto (There are 600 registered voters there, they will be easy to find. Our embassy will do its best to allow voters to cast their vote)," he said.