#InquirerSeven: How many Filipinos, votes will shape PH future?

As the voting period for the 2016 national and local elections comes to an end at 5 p.m. on May 9, 2016, INQUIRER.net highlights one last time the high stakes of this year’s elections: Just how many Filipinos have cast their ballots and braved the long lines to vote? Just how many votes are on the line?

FAQ: 2016 Philippine national and local elections

1. Almost 4 million people registered as new or returning voters this year.

Whether due to an increase in the country’s population or the gravity of this year’s elections for ordinary Filipinos, this year recorded an almost four-million increase in registered voters as compared to the polls in 2010 and 2013.

In 2016, 54,363,844 Filipinos registered to vote. In 2010 and 2013, the numbers were at 50,771,974 and 50,922,248, respectively.

2. Roughly 370,000 individual precincts are grouped together into 92,509 clusters.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has grouped the almost 54 million registered voters into 369,138 individual, established precincts. The polling body, however, further combined at least two established precincts into one “clustered precinct.”

Across the country, there are 92,509 clustered precincts.

3. More than half of this year’s voters live in Luzon. 

Around 56 percent, or 30,417,790 people, of the 54 million registered voters in this year’s elections will be voting from Luzon, the country’s biggest island group. As for the remaining island groups, Visayas accounts for 21 percent, or 11,316,789, of voters while Mindanao boasts 23 percent, or 12,629,265, of total voters.

4. Three of the Top 5 vote-rich regions in the country are in Luzon.

By further dividing the island groups, Comelec data suggest that three of the Top 5 vote-rich provinces are all in Luzon: Region IV-A, or Calabarzon, with  National Capital Region, or Metro Manila, with 6,253,249;

5. Only 200,262 OFWs voted in this year’s elections. 

Only 14.55 percent of registered overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) cast their ballots in this year’s elections.

As of 2015, at least 2.4 million Filipinos are working outside the Philippines, according to the Commission on Filipinos Overseas.

Of this number, 1,326,728 are land-based while 49,339 are seamen.

6. Majority of overseas Filipino voters are based in the Middle East.

Of the dozens of countries one can find OFWs, the United Arab Emirates–specifically, Dubai–had the most number of overseas Filipino voters (OFVs) at 122,955.

7. There are 10 VCMs that counted only one vote each. 

While each vote counting machine (VCM) in the Philippines services thousands of Filipinos, there are 10 VCMs in Europe, Africa and South America that each serviced only one OFV during the overseas absentee voting.

The 10 countries are:

• Montenegro
• Serbia
• Dominica
• Guadaloupe
• Paraguay
• Burundi
• South Sudan
• Comoros. SP

Compiled by Inquirer Research
Sources: Comelec, Philippine Statistics Authority, Commission on Filipinos Overseas and Inquirer Archives