Local absentee voting underway for over 57K Filipinos

More than 57,000 Filipinos are set to vote early under the Local Absentee Voting (LAV) system ahead of the 12 May elections, Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Garcia said Tuesday.

In a radio interview, Garcia said that a total of 57,682 voters — including media workers, military personnel, police officers, and other government employees — are participating in the early voting process.

"These are citizens who have responsibilities on election day," Garcia explained in Filipino, emphasizing that media practitioners are especially crucial in covering developments before, during, and after the elections.

Members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the Philippine National Police (PNP), and various government agencies have already begun casting their votes. Garcia mentioned that Comelec headquarters in Intramuros, as well as camps like Camp Crame and Camp Aguinaldo, serve as polling venues for LAV participants.

Media workers based in the National Capital Region are voting under the supervision of the Comelec NCR Regional Director in San Juan City.

Government employees approved for LAV are voting within their respective offices or designated locations. Garcia clarified that absentee voters can only vote for national positions — president, vice president, senators, and party-list representatives — and not for local offices such as mayor or governor.

"If a local absentee voter misses the designated voting days on April 28, 29, and 30, they can no longer vote on May 12," Garcia stressed. "Their registration has already been moved to the Local Absentee Voting system, meaning they forfeit the chance to vote on election day."

Garcia said Comelec carefully verifies each voter's eligibility for LAV to ensure they are not deactivated and to prevent double voting. Voter records are transferred from their original precinct to the LAV list managed by the Comelec LAV Committee.

As of Tuesday, he noted that a significant number of media practitioners have already voted, with a total of 1,005 expected to participate in LAV.

Local absentee voting will run until 30 April.