Overseas voting commences for 1.3M registered Filipinos

The month-long overseas absentee voting for overseas Filipinos commenced on Sunday, April 13, with the Commission on Elections (Comelec) officially ending the test voting period for Registered Overseas Voters (ROVS) enrolled in the Online Voting and Counting System (OVCS) one minute before midnight.

- By ELLSON QUISMORIO

A statement from Comelec Spokesman John Rex Laudiangco on Sunday, April 13 revealed that the test voting period concluded at exactly 11:59 p.m., Saturday, April 12,.in accordance with Resolution No. 11061.

Among the features of the OVCS is the Test Voting wherein ROVS have been given the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the features of the new system.

"The Overseas Voting Period officially commences today, April 13, 2025 and will run until 7:00PM, May 12, 2025 PST, synchronized with the end of voting hours in the Philippines," read the statement.

There are 1.321 million registered overseas Filipino voters in the upcoming May 12 mid-term polls.

Major overseas Filipino worker (OFW) hubs with the largest voter populations are the United Arab Emirates (189,892), United States (178,033), Saudi Arabia (130,711), Hong Kong (83,330), and Taiwan (71,009).