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Overseas voting for Eleksyon 2025 begins
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Sunday kicked off the month-long voting period for the 2025 midterm elections for registered Filipino overseas voters.
The official overseas voting period began at 8 a.m. (local time) on Sunday, April 13. This will run until 7 p.m. on May 12, coinciding with the end of voting period in the Philippines.
According to the Comelec, the test voting for registered overseas voters enrolled in the Online Voting and Counting System was closed on Saturday, April 12, at exactly 11:59 p.m. (Philippine Standard Time).
Following the closure of the test voting period, the official overseas voting period started.
“Ngayong araw na ito, kanina, actually ng madaling araw, ay simula na ng pagboto ng mga kababayan natin abroad — 'yung tinatawag na overseas voting,” Comelec Chairman George Garcia said in a Super Radyo dzBB interview.
(Today, the voting period for our compatriots abroad began. This is called the overseas voting.)
(The voting of Filipinos abroad in 77 posts will be via internet voting. Meanwhile, in 16 posts, Filipinos have to go to the embassy or consulate.)
The poll body said registered Filipino voters in areas in New Zealand under the jurisdiction of the Wellington Philippine Embassy were the first ones to cast their votes, when it was 4:00 a.m. in Manila. It was or will be followed by:
Australia and Guam (6:00 a.m. PST);
Japan and Korea (7:00 a.m. PST);
Brunei, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Macau, Indonesia, Taiwan, and Singapore (8:00 a.m. PST);
Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia (9:00 a.m. PST);
Bangladesh (10:00 a.m. PST);
India (10:30 a.m. PST);
Pakistan (11:00 a.m. PST);
United Arab Emirates and Oman (12:00 p.m. PST);
Greece, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Kenya, and Israel (1:00 p.m. PST);
Spain, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Romania, Denmark, Italy, Norway, France, Czech Republic, Rome, Sweden, The Netherlands, The Vatican, Poland, Egypt, and South Africa (2:00 p.m. PST);
Portugal, United Kingdom, and Morocco (3:00 p.m. PST);
Brazil and Argentina (7:00 p.m. PST);
New York; Ottawa and Toronto, Canada; and Chile (8:00 p.m. PST);
Chicago and Houston (9:00 p.m. PST);
Mexico (10:00 p.m. PST);
Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington D.C.; and Vancouver, Canada (11:00 p.m. PST); and
Honolulu (2:00 a.m., April 14, PST).
Garcia previously said that there are 1.231 million Filipino voters abroad.
But as of Friday, April 11, he said only 48,000 overseas Filipino voters have enrolled in the pre-voting enrollment system for the 2025 polls.
Registered Filipino overseas voters may still sign up for the pre-voting enrollment for internet voting until May 7 by visiting this link: https://ov.comelec.gov.ph/enroll.
In the last elections with 1.697 million overseas Pinoy voters, Garcia said the voter turnout was around 40.59%, which was the highest in history. —KG, GMA Integrated News
For more Eleksyon 2025 related content and updates, visit GMA News Online's Eleksyon 2025 microsite.
