Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Erwin Garcia announced the successful opening of the 77 Online Voting and Counting System (OVCS) posts abroad for the May 12 midterm elections.
Garcia sid the Honolulu Philippine Consul General was the latest to open its OVCS post at around 2 a.m. Philippine Standard Time (PST) or 8 a.m. in Honolulu.
He said all 16 posts using the automated counting machines (ACMs) have successfully carried out open voting procedures.
“Successfully opened na po ang lahat ng 77 OVCS Posts, with Honolulu PCG being the last one at around 2:00 AM Philippine Standard Time (8:00 AM in Honolulu). Earlier today, all 16 ACM Posts have also successfully conducted open voting procedures,” Garci said.
“With that, all 93 Posts have opened voting for their respective jurisdictions for the 2025 National Elections overseas,” he added.
On Sunday, the Comelec formally opened a month-long overseas voting for the 2025 midterm elections for registered Filipino overseas voters.
First to open were areas in New Zealand under the jurisdiction of the Wellington Philippine Embassy.
It was begun at 8:00 a.m. (local time) on Sunday, April 13 and will last up to 7:00 p.m.of May 12, which is also the last day of voting in the Philippines.
It was learned that from a total of 90 Philippine diplomatic posts, 77 participated in the first online OVCS and 16 will be using ACMs.
There are about 1.231 million Filipino voters overseas.
Garcia said that up to 5 a.m. of Monday, a total of 54,575 overseas voters were able to register so they can cast their votes for the midterm elections.
