22 hours Ago By Michelle Abad
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rapplerAds.displayAd( "mobile-middle-1" );MANILA, Philippines – Nearly two weeks since the start of pre-enrollment for internet voting, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) urged Filipinos registered to vote overseas to avoid waiting until the last minute to pre-enroll for internet voting.As of Wednesday, April 2, the Comelec reported that just around 18,000 Filipinos abroad have pre-enrolled to vote online since the platform was opened on March 22.
Pre-registration is the first step to participating in the country’s first-ever internet voting, which will be the mode of voting used by majority of Filipinos overseas. Over 1.2 million Filipinos are registered in places that will conduct internet voting, which means all of them must enroll to be able to participate.
(LIST: Modes of overseas voting in the 2025 elections)“Hindi man ganoon kadami pa ‘yung nagpapa-enroll. Alam natin, dadami at dadami ‘yan. Pero ‘wag na po natin hintayin pa ‘yung later.
Baka po kasi mag-crash na naman ‘yung sistema natin at hindi makapagparehistro,” said Comelec Chairman George Garcia on the sidelines of a Wednesday forum with the Management Association of the Philippines.(There aren’t a lot who have enrolled as of now. We know that there will be more and more who will.
But we hope the voters do it sooner rather than later. Our system might end up crashing and voters will not be able to enroll.)Must Read #PHVote Guides: What overseas voters should know about internet voting Garcia expects that the number of pre-enrolled voters will balloon around April 13, the start of the month-long voting period for overseas Filipinos.
The chairman likened the “putting off” culture among enrollees with the registration the poll body required from candidates’ social media pages. In a September 2024 resolution, the Comelec required all candidates and parties to register their internet-based campaign platforms with commission until December 13. The poll body extended the deadline until March 30.
“Mayroon pa rin hindi nakapagparehistro dahil hindi pa rin nila gin-rab ‘yung mismong oras. Ngayon, humihingi na naman ng extension. Hindi na po talaga tama yung lagi na lang tayo nag-e-extend,” he said.
(There were still some who were not able to register because they did not grab the opportunity to do it at the right time. Now they’re asking for another extension. I don’t think it’s right to always grant extensions.
)Pre-enrollment for overseas voting will be until May 7, while Filipinos abroad can cast their votes until election day, May 12. – Rappler.com.
