OAV registration for 2010 elections breaches record for 2007, says DFA

Manila (23 July) — At 143,659 overseas voters so far registered for the May 2010 elections, the number has breached the total of 142,667 for the 2007 national elections, according to Nestor Padalhin, vice-chairman of the Overseas Absentee Voters Secretariat (OAVS) based at the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

Still, both totals fared much lower than the 361,457 registered in the two-month registration period for the 2004 presidential elections, records show. The August 1 to September 30, 2003 OAV registration was the first since the law on overseas absentee voting and the law on dual citizenship were passed by Congress.

The second OAV registration was for a one-year period from October 31, 2005 to October 31, 2006, yet the total was the lowest of the three periods.

For that first-time ever registration, foreign posts were on their toes as they have to respond to both face-to-face and online queries by first-time prospective absentee voters and master the mechanics of registering Filipinos abroad. Both registrars and registrants were experiencing overseas registration and actual voting for the first time.

The current seven-month registration period, from February 1 to August 31, shows that the consulate-general in Hong Kong, reaping 14,259, leads some 90 foreign diplomatic posts in attracting registrants. The HK performance accounts for the overall regional lead of the Asia-Pacific, or for a regional total of 39,239.

With only five weeks to go before the August 31 deadline, the OAVS hopes that registration reaches at least 200,000.

DFA Undersecretary Rafael Seguis, OAVS chair, earlier said that he has factored the Filipino habit of scrambling over a project at the 11th hour.

Also, various foreign posts have multiplied their campaign for mobile registration, operating out of public places and centers in the Middle East, Europe, Hong Kong and the U.S. to attract Filipinos to register – and eventually vote in May 2010.

Padalhin said there is nothing unusual about the fluctuation in numbers as many OAV registrants are transient overseas workers. The point is that they have a chance to register and exercise their right of suffrage even when abroad, he added.

Next to Hong Kong, with a large Filipino community of at least 180,000, the top 10 registrars are: Los Angeles, 8,114; Dubai, 7,907; Singapore, 6,300; London, 4,662; Riyadh, 4,570; Toronto, 4,202; New York, 4,085; Tokyo, 3,363, and Washington, 3,214.

The U.S., where many Filipinos are dual citizens, leads among countries where registration is in the top five. The rest are China (15,288), United Arab Emirates (10,555), Saudi Arabia (8,413) and Singapore (6,300).

But DFA noted that there were also enlistment in the newly-opened diplomatic posts of Barcelona (Spain, 1,559), Oslo (Norway, 938), Macau (SAR China, 465), Damascus (Syria, 277), Frankfurt (Germany, 44), and Chongqing (China, 43). (PIA)