Overseas Filipino voters push for online voting

MANILA – Filipino voters overseas are pushing for internet voting to increase voter turnout during the May mid-term elections, Commission on Elections (Comelec) spokesman James Jimenez said.

"A lot of Filipinos are pushing for internet voting so that geography will not be an issue, some legal requirements may not apply. That's a very strong sentiment from Filipinos overseas," he said.

In theory, Jimenez explained, the Comelec first has to secure a grant of authority to field test internet voting, before a pilot test can be conducted, followed by a full blown study in preparation for the  amendment of election laws.

Jimenez had just arrived from the Comelec's training of embassy officials in Europe and Africa.

These embassy officials will serve as election inspectors for the absentee voting in their diplomatic posts.

"We were training embassy officials from Abijao to Cairo, Warsaw, everywhere, Europe and Africa and we taught them procedures for postal voting field voting as well, which are the 3 modes of voting,” said Jimenez.