MANILA, Philippines – Filipinos abroad could vote via the Internet in the 2010 elections if Republic Act 9189, the Overseas Absentee Voting Law, is amended, according to the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
Commissioner Nicodemo Ferrer said the poll body would give priority to seafarers once Congress passes a law allowing Internet voting.
“Internet voting should first of all start with the seafarers,” he said.
“At present, only 18,000 seafarers are registered but if Internet voting is approved, it might increase threefold or fourfold.”
Ferrer said the Comelec also seeks the removal of a provision in RA 9189 requiring Filipinos abroad to execute an “affidavit of intent to return” to the Philippines when they register to vote.
That provision is applicable only to overseas Filipino workers whose employment contracts usually last for two or three years, he added.
Since RA 9189 was passed in 2003, the Comelec had been implementing manual voting among Filipinos abroad. — Sheila Crisostomo