The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has expressed readiness to implement the pre-enrollment for online voting of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) for the May midterm elections.
This comes after the Commission on Elections (Comelec) moved the pre-enrollment period for the online voting and counting system (OVCS) from 10 March to 20 March.
“The Department hopes Comelec’s decision for postponement shall enable it to ensure that the OVCS passes all the testing and certification required by Republic Act 9369, the Election Automation Law of 2007, prior to its launch,” the DFA said in a statement Saturday.
“The Department, for its part, is ready to implement the OVCS upon Comelec’s direction and remains resolute and committed to fulfilling its mandate of administering the vote to registered Filipino overseas voters during the overseas voting period from April 13 to May 12, 2025,” it added.
Pre-enrollment for online voting will run from 20 March to 7 May, while test voting is scheduled until 13 April. The actual voting period will take place from 13 April to 12 May.
On Friday, the poll body conducted a trial run of the OVCS, which will be used for the first time in the upcoming elections in May.
Comelec chairman George Garcia clarified that Filipinos abroad are not automatically eligible to join the pilot program, as they are required to register before the actual voting period.
“Our 1.3 million countrymen abroad are not automatically eligible to vote online. They need to enroll first to receive a password,” Garcia explained.
He added that voter identities will be verified using government-issued IDs such as passports and seaman’s books. Each voter will also receive a one-time PIN for authentication.