PH citizens overseas urged to register as voters by Sept. 30 deadline

Overseas Filipino voters.AFP

New eligible voters who want to register to vote in the coming 2022 national elections should take advantage of the remaining weeks leading to the Sept. 30, 2021 registration deadline, the Philippine Consulate in San Francisco announced.

Consul General Neil Frank Ferrer, Filipinos in the San Francisco Bay Area and nearby states may register for overseas voting on Sutter Street in San Francisco from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday.

Extra days of registration are also available for residents near the site of the consular outreach missions in Portland, Oregon on Sept. 8-11, 2021 and Bozeman, Montana on Sept. 22-25, 2021.  For more details on the outreach, see https://pcgsanfrancisco.org/ph-consulate-in-sf-to-hold-consular-outreach-in-oregon/ .

The Consulate is also open all of Saturday on Sept. 25, 2021 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for a special overseas voting registration day.

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For those who cannot make it at the sites and schedules indicated above, new and old applicants can file their requests at the COMELEC Office for Overseas Voting (OFOV) Virtual Online Services (VFS) through any of the following:

1. By using the iRehistro System on the COMELEC Website at: https://irehistro.comelec.gov.ph/ovf1
2. By email at [email protected]or
3. By Facebook Messenger through OFOV’s official Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/overseasvotingph

For those voters who were deactivated by the COMELEC for failing to vote in the 2016 and 2019 National and Local Elections, the Consulate and COMELEC advise them to re-register through the online links and processes indicated above to enable them to participate in the 2022 Presidential Elections.

On November 2019, the COMELEC deactivated 23,115 overseas voters under the consular jurisdiction of the Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco, which covers 10 states.

The list of Deactivated Overseas Voters can be checked for verification at :https://dfa.gov.ph/images/PISU/2019/12_DEC/18_Deactivated_Overseas_Voters_List/AMERICAS/san_francisco.pdf to verify if reactivation through re-registration is needed..

Deactivated overseas voters who already have existing voters’ registration records with complete biometric data in the Commission’s voter record database may now transact ONLINE with the COMELEC Office for Overseas Voting (OFOV). More details can be read on: https://pcgsanfrancisco.org/online-services-relating-to-ph-2022-national-and-local-elections-now-available-for-overseas-filipinos/

It was reported earlier by the Department of Foreign Affairs – Overseas Voting Secretariat (DFA-OVS) informs the public that the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) has deactivated 578,185 overseas voters for failing to participate in the 2016 and 2019 National and Local Elections. In this regard, the deactivated voters are urged to re-register in order for them to be able participate in the 2022 Presidential Elections.

Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), as well as immigrants, seafarers, and students who are about to leave for abroad, and who are not yet registered Overseas Voters, were asked to register from 16 December 2019 to 30 September 2021 at the following locations:

• Any Philippine Embassy, Consulate General, Mission, or Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO)
• Overseas Voter Registration Centers designated by COMELEC

All Filipino citizens who expect to be abroad from 09 April to 09 May 2022 during the overseas voting period for the 2022 Presidential Elections, and are at least 18 years old on 09 May 2022 and not otherwise disqualified by law, may register as an overseas voter at the abovementioned locations.

The online services relating to the 2022 Philippine national and local elections have been available since July 29, 2021 pursuant to COMELEC Resolution No. 10709 dated 14 July 2021,

Overseas Filipinos that already have existing voters’ registration records with complete biometric data in the Commission’s voter record database may now transact ONLINE with the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) Office for Overseas Voting (OFOV) for the following types of requests, applications, or transactions:

1. Certification as an overseas voter;
2. Reinstatement of names inadvertently omitted from the National Registry of Overseas Voters (NROV);
3. Correction of entries in the Overseas Voter’s Registration Record (OVRR), specifically on the following data fields:

• Voter’s surname or family name, by reason of marriage, death of spouse, or final court judgment;
• Voter’s civil status, by reason of marriage, death of spouse, or final court judgment; and
• Voter’s name, to correct a misspelled name or erroneous entry.

4. Request to withdraw the application for registration;
5. Request to cancel OVRR;
6. Reactivation of OVRRs that were deactivated due to causes listed in Section 14 of the Overseas Voting Act of 2013;
7. Updating of mailing or postal addresses and other contact information of registered overseas voters;
8. Transfers of registration records between different Posts or Countries;
9. Transfers of registration records from overseas/Post to a Philippine city/municipality, but only insofar as the cancellation of the overseas voters’ names from the Certified List of Overseas Voters (CLOV) and the removal of their overseas voter’s registration from the Book of Voters are concerned; and
10. Applications for issuance of certified true copy of Overseas Voters’ Registration Record, and other OFOV-related activities.

it is important to note that those applications or transactions requiring the live capture of the applicants’ or voters’ biometric data, such as their photographs, signatures, and fingerprints, are not covered by the mentioned COMELEC resolution.

Those interested in registering or have other queries are requested to send an e-mail to [email protected].