Oops! Comelec exec votes in wrong place

HONG KONG—Oops.

Election Commissioner Arthur Lim almost voted at the wrong polling precinct here on Saturday after election officers mistook his middle name for his surname.

Lim, who registered so that he could vote here at the start of the overseas absentee voting, had already shaded his ballot before an election official informed him he was in the wrong precinct.

“This is an eye-opener that we should be vigilant,” Lim told reporters afterward at Bayanihan Centre in Kennedy Town, where the absentee voting is being held.

Lim went to Precinct 10 after the balloting started at 8 a.m. when he was actually listed in Precinct 6.

Lim said the special board of election inspectors at Precinct 10 thought his middle name, Delubio, was his surname. There was apparently a voter with that surname listed in Precinct 10.

‘Spoiled’ ballot

“First-day jitters,” Lim said, referring to the mistake.

Lim’s ballot was set aside and declared “spoiled.”

He went down one floor to Precinct 6 and there succesfully cast his vote.

There are around 90,000 registered Filipino voters in Hong Kong.

Republic Act No. 9189, also  known as the Overseas Absentee Voting Act of 2003, allows early voting by Filipinos working or living in foreign countries.

In the Philippines, national elections will be held on May 9.

All registered citizens of the Philippines abroad who are at least 18 years of age on the day of the elections and not disqualified by law can vote ahead of Election Day.

30 days

There are 1,376,067 registered Filipino overseas voters in 240 locations around the world.

For the 2016 elections, overseas voting began on Saturday, and the voting period would last for 30 days, inclusive of holidays in the Philippines and in the host countries.

Overseas voters can vote either personally or by mail.

For personal voting, the balloting is held at the premises of embassies, consulates and other foreign service centers authorized by the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

The Comelec has tasked a special board of election inspectors to conduct the personal voting and count the votes.

For postal voting, a special ballot reception and custody group is in charge.

The top 10 locations with the highest number of voters are Dubai (122,955), Riyadh (114,065), Hong Kong (93,978), Singapore (86,355), United Arab Emirates (72,696), Jeddah (68,879), Kuwait (58,524), Los Angeles (55,417), San Francisco (45,836) and Qatar (45,002). With a report from Inquirer Research