Senate approves P6.487B Comelec budget

The Senate on 14 November approved the proposed P6.487 billion budget of the Commission on Elections.

Part of the allocation is for the construction of a new Comelec building and complex. Comelec chair George Erwin Garcia initially submitted a P1.5 billion budget for the building, but the Budget Department lowered it to P500 million.

Aside from a new building, Comelec also wants a separate complex.

'Vote anywhere'

The Senate quizzed Sen. Imee Marcos and Comelec on the proposed "Vote Anywhere" arrangement, which the poll body pitched before the 2022 elections as a way to improve overseas voters turnout.

Sen. Nancy Binay raised the risk of double voting, where Filipino migrants can cast their votes in two countries.

But Marcos said there is a way to counter that risk.