OFW leaders seek overseas voting scheme overhaul
OFW FORUM
Jun Concepcion
As the 2022 national elections get closer, what is the current state of affairs at the Overseas Absentee Voting (OAV) scheme?
Inexplicably and sadly, appalling and disgraceful.
More than 17 years since the OAV scheme was set up in 2004, little has changed – if at all – in it.
To its credit, the government established the scheme to provide overseas Filipinos with an opportunity to participate in the country’s national elections. Soon after, it put up 89 registration centers across the world in 154 areas for field registration. Data capturing machines were also set up at Philippine embassies and consulates. But today or 17 years later, no significant improvements have been adopted and instituted to upgrade and bolster the antiquated system.
Understandably, the glaring lack of attention and interest to improve the quality of the decades old OAV has infuriated OFWs in different parts of the world.
Eli Mua, a long-time Saudi Arabia-based OFW rights advocate has every reason to fume and be mad over the OAV scheme.
“How can Pinoys here in Saudi and elsewhere in the Middle East travel long distances and even absent themselves from work just to register as voters and cast their votes at Philippine embassy or consulate offices here,” he said. “Why can’t electoral laws be changed to allow OFWs to cast ballots by mail?”
Eli’s sentiment and displeasure are echoed by OFWs in other parts of the world.
In Hong Kong, for instance, where different transportation modes are far more efficient and superior than those in the Philippines, Rita, a Filipino domestic helper, can’t help but question the currently inconvenient electoral arrangements. To be able to register as a voter in the 2022 national elections, she has to travel by train for over an hour and change station several times before reaching the Philippine Consulate office in Hong Kong Island for on-site registration. She resides in the New Territories region close to Hong Kong’s land border with southern China. “Why haven’t election officials thought of coming up with easier ways of voter registration and casting of votes?,” she asked.
David Guevarra, founder and president of Hong Kong OFW organization REVVED, posed more incisive questions. “Most OFWs use mobile phones with Internet service. Universities and other schools all over the Philippines produce thousands of talented computer graduates every year. Why haven’t election officials ever thought of using computers to come up with an online system for voter registration and even casting of votes,” he said.
Why Commission on Election (Comelec) officials, lawmakers and senior government officials never thought all these years of automating or computerizing registration and voting of overseas Filipinos is appalling and defies logic and reason. Sticking to on-site registration and casting of votes despite the availability of viable alternatives, notably a computerized or online system, is simply incomprehensible and unacceptable, especially amid continuing advances in technology. A case in point are mobile phones. Numerous mobile phone brands and tablets now function as mini computers.
But while computerization offers vast benefits going forward, certain vital issues need to be looked into, specifically the integrity and security of data upon transmission and storage before they are processed and tabulated.
Although the Comelec is an independent constitutional body, the fact that its commissioners are appointed by the sitting president or head of the executive department somehow raises some doubts on the impartiality of the agency’s actions and decisions. Whether the Comelec is totally immune from any external influence is another concern.
So how will OFWs get a sufficient level of comfort that the integrity and security of an online voting scheme are not compromised?
Several critical elements are most desirable though not easy to achieve:
1] The government should ask a United Nations body to tap an independent agency or company to set up a secure and tamper proof online voting, data storage and tabulation system. A UN agency initiative will certainly go above and beyond claims of partiality by most if not all political groups in the country.
2] If not funded by a UN body, funding for the project can be sourced from the World Bank or another multilateral body. But oversight and operations are ideally undertaken by technical experts of a UN agency to ensure impartiality and independence. Rightly or wrongly, government institutions, even judicial bodies, are subject to claims of partiality.
Claims and counter-claims of election cheating are not uncommon in Philippine politics, even among overseas Filipinos. Thus, some form of a UN agency aid or intervention may be desirable.
Comelec data show that less than half of registered overseas voters cast their votes in the past five national elections. OFW participation can be raised significantly if the OAV scheme is overhauled and an online voting system – that is safe and secure from hacking – is put in place.
Contact writer at jchk94@yahoo.com
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