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Solon advocates for computerized voting and OFW registration

A bill allowing overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and sailors to register, get ballots, and cast their votes using current electronic methods were filed by a congressman on Thursday.

Rep. Marissa Magsino of the OFW Party List introduced House Bill 6770, arguing that the current voting procedures must be expanded in order to prevent the disenfranchisement of about 1.83 million OFWs and to further encourage them to exercise their right to vote.

Only 472,559 of the 1.69 million overseas voters who were registered to vote actually cast ballots in the 2022 national and municipal elections, according to the Office of the Overseas Voting (OOV) of the Commission on Elections (Comelec). This is a turnout of 27.87 percent.

The “Overseas Absentee Voting Act of 2003,” as revised by Republic Act No. 10590, the “Overseas Voting Act of 2013,” is the law that the proposed legislation would modify.

“There is no provision in the law that allows our overseas Filipino workers or seafarers to vote if they are prevented from visiting these diplomatic missions abroad because they are on a ship or on the high seas, or constrained by the nature of their employment,” she said.

The proposed law would permit abroad Filipino employees to cast ballots electronically, which might be done using email, web portals, or other internet-based tools.

For some sectors stationed abroad, electronic voting is permitted, according to Magsino, particularly for uniformed troops and their families via email, fax, or online voting platforms.

Voting, or having the right to vote, is a crucial component of democracy. The people have the authority to select the representatives they want to represent them and execute their government’s powers. Given that we hail them as the modern heroes who send the nation more than USD34.9 billion in remittances, all OFWs should have easy access to this “She spoke.

She claimed that after the amendatory law’s passing in 2013, the voting options for OFWs remained restricted, especially for Filipino seamen given the particulars of their line of employment.

She emphasized that OFWs may only cast their ballots in person or by mail at any Philippine embassy, consulate, or foreign service facility of the nation situated in or close to any foreign seaport, or at their place of employment, as applicable, during election times.

To enable OFWs and OFs (overseas Filipinos) to fully participate in our elections and effectively exercise one of the key privileges of their Filipino citizenship – the right to choose their leaders, it is necessary to close the gaps in the current laws and regulations on overseas absentee voting “She spoke.

The legislation would offer options to further improve current absentee voting practices for OFWs and OFs while preserving the integrity of their votes.

The proposed voting methods include postal voting, in which the Commission sends mailing packets containing official ballots and other election materials directly to voters or to polling places, which are then returned by mail to election officers after voting, and seafarer voting, in which ship officers and rating, including offshore workers, service providers, and fishermen, who are registered overseas workers, may cast their votes during the voting period through po

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