May 8, 2022
Contact: Karen Roxas, +1-408-800-1531, kontradayausa@gmail.com
Overseas Voters Raise the Alarm over Disenfranchisement amid Late Ballots and 13,000+ Returned to Sender
With less than 24 hours left until the deadline for the Overseas Absentee Voting (OAV) for the 2022 Philippine Elections, many voters fear their ballots will not be mailed to consulates in time to be counted after receiving them late. Worse, more than 13,000 voters have not received their ballot at all after being “returned to sender.”
As early as the beginning of the OAV period, Filipinos claimed widespread OAV mishandling on the part of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) after ballots had not yet been received by voters. In an April 18 press conference, community groups demanded the COMELEC extend the original OAV U.S. deadline of May 9th, 4am PT after learning that thousands of ballots had yet to be sent.
“The delays in the mailing correspond to delays in the receipt of the voters of the ballot packets,” read a petition initiated by Migrante Los Angeles, Malaya Los Angeles, and concerned voters. “The burden of returning the ballots to the consular posts in time lies now in the voters who have to devise all means possible for their votes to be counted and not be disenfranchised.”
To date, the COMELEC has yet to respond to the demand.
Although consular offices and the embassy announced on-site voting for registered voters who did not receive their ballots, this information came too late, with less than a week left before the deadline. This is also inconsiderate of many voters who live far away from consular posts who are now at the risk of disenfranchisement.
“It’s not like this is the first time they are doing overseas elections—they should’ve anticipated these problems already,” said Ruthie Arroyo, a volunteer for election watchdog Kontra Daya USA. “Information about overseas voting continues to be sporadic and last minute, especially as we approach the voting deadline. Our kababayan are confused, but also outraged at the threat of disenfranchisement for such a crucial election. The COMELEC and the Duterte administration should take responsibility for this clear infringement on democratic rights.” ###
Comments