OV registration tally in HK expected to top 90k, despite absence of queues

 

Yesterday was the only day Filipinos were seen lining up to register for the 2025 overseas voting

The lure of being among the first to vote online for next year’s mid-term election in the Philippines failed to inspire more Filipinos in Hong Kong to rush and register as a voter, judging from the absence of queues in the lobby of Unite Centre building, where the Philippine Consulate is located.

The nearly two-year-long overseas voter registration ended today, September 30, with practically nobody trying to beat the deadline.

The only sizeable crowd was seen yesterday, the last Sunday of registration for the month-long overseas voting for the senatorial election which will be held from April 13 to May 12 next year.

Pindutin para sa detalye

But fewer than 100 people queued up to go to the 14^th or 29^th floor of the building, where the registration had taken place since December 9, 2022.

This was in stark contrast to the hundreds, even thousands, who lined up for hours in the last days of registration for the 2022 presidential election, even amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Vice Consul Jose Angelo Manuel, who overseas the overseas registration and voting, said the Consulate even extended its work hours to 5pm yesterday in anticipation of a last-minute rush, but no one came after the usual cut-off time of 4pm.

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But despite the lukewarm response, VC Manuel said the Consulate still expects the number of registered voters to hit “roughly between 90,000 and 95,000.”

He hastened to add that the final tally would still depend on the Commission of Elections in Manila, which has the sole authority to de-register voters who did not comply with requirements, or for failing to vote in the two last elections.

However, the figure is still close to the 93,265 people who registered to vote in the 2022 presidential election, for which there was a record turnout, despite the raging pandemic.

Vice Consul Manuel says the challenge now is how to steer 90k-odd voters through internet voting

Manuel said that based on previous trends, it is not likely that the turnout in next year’s vote would top that record, as mid-term elections do not attract as much interest as a presidential contest. Registration figures also reflect this.

There is also a tendency for Filipinos to hold off registering to vote until the last minute.

But some of those who queued up to register at the Consulate yesterday said they were only alerted about the looming deadline after reading about it in The SUN. They said they did not see any recent reminder from the Consulate about it.

Manuel said they never failed to remind Filipinos, either those who come by the Consulate for some services, or those they meet at community gatherings, to register if they have not done so yet.

“Kapag may pumupunta dito for some services, we would tell them, mag-register kayo. Pero sasabihin lang nila, next time na lang, busy ako. Tapos ayun nga, last minute magre register sila,” said Manuel.

(Whenever Filipinos could come here for services, we would tell them to register. But they would say they would just do it next time as they are busy. So now, many of them will register at the last minute).

The Consulate was virtually empty in the final hours of OV registration

With the registration period over, the Consulate’s attention will now shift to making sure there will be no hitches during next year’s landmark voting process. And the first step towards this is to work on the pre-registration of voters, which will be done over a month, coinciding with the actual overseas election.

Manuel said they expect this to pose real challenges, given the big number of registered voters in Hong Kong, the biggest in any city abroad.

There is also the need to inform voters thoroughly about the new method of voting. Relative to this, he said voters should have gadgets that are internet-capable and an email address they should have full control over, so they will not encounter any problems in casting their ballots.

Internet voting should be easy, he said, as voters can do it wherever they may be, as long as they have a steady internet connection. But for those who still want to be guided through the process, a number of voting kiosks will be set up, where they will be assisted by authorized people.

Manuel said the Comelec will do a run-through of the process between February and April next year, and he hopes some voters could participate and help iron out whatever kinks there may still be in the system. 

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