12 May 2016 - The 2016 Overseas Voting process in Australia drew to a close on May 11 after the Embassy’s Special Board of Canvassers (SBOC) canvassed the election returns from 11 precincts representing Australia, Vanuatu and New Caledonia.
3,367 out of 7,866 registered voters actually voted, for a voter turnout of 42% that is well within the Commission on Elections target figure of 40-50% for Overseas Voting. The SBOC immediately transmitted the Certificates of Canvass electronically to the National Board of Canvassers in Manila for consolidation with the results from other overseas precincts.
The period of casting Overseas Voting ballots started on April 09 and ended on May 09 at 8:00 pm AEST to coincide with the closing of the COMELEC voting precincts in the Philippines. The process of manual postal voting involves voters receiving their ballot packets by mail and having the option to either mail back or personally turn in the filled-out ballots at their designated precincts at the Embassy in Canberra or the Consulate General in Sydney. The manual counting of ballots commenced promptly on May 09 at 8:00 pm in the presence of designated poll watchers, PH media representatives and Filipino Community members.
Ambassador Minda Calaguian-Cruz welcomed the high voter turnout and expressed satisfaction that the Embassy’s information campaign to reach out to registered voters who initially failed to receive their ballot packet enabled the Embassy to reissue or resend ballots to almost one hundred voters. In order to encourage registered voters to exercise their right of suffrage, the Embassy has been issuing regular announcements on the 2016 National Elections through its website and official Facebook page. It has also sought the assistance of the Honorary Philippine Consuls General in Australia, Filipino media organizations such as UNTV and Radyo Filipino Australia, and the Filipino Community organizations to disseminate the announcements to the registered voters within their jurisdiction.
The results of the canvassing of election returns from Australia, Vanuatu and New Caledonia are now posted at the Philippine Embassy’s Consular Section for the convenience of the general public. END
