DFA sees continuous rise in overseas absentee voters

THE Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) reported the continuous increase in the number of overseas voter (OV) registrants over the past five months since it started in May. this year.

In a statement, the DFA Overseas Voting Secretariat (OVS) said they have been seeing a continuous rise in the number of applicants, which has now totalled to 145,299.

“At the current pace of registration, we could have an overseas voter stock of over two million for the 2016 presidential elections. Attaining this goal can definitely be a game changer,” DFA-OVS Chairman Rafael Seguis said.

Records show that there were 18,670 in May; followed by 20,836 in June; 24,366 in July; 38,945 in August; and 42,482 in September.

However, such an up-

ward trend is not enough to satisfy Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario, saying he wants the overseas voter registration to maximize its potential.

“The challenge for OV registration is to maintain the momentum by keeping the overseas Filipinos interested and engaged in this democratic process,” said del Rosario.

Seguis believes that the recent directives of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) will help maintain the momentum in OV registration.

This, he said, includes the pilot testing of the iRehistro Project, which is an internet-enabled system for overseas voter registration, at the Philippine Embassy in Madrid, Spain beginning the first week of November. (HDT/Sunnex)