ARMED with the internet voting system, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday said it is looking to have 70 to 80 percent overseas voter turnout during the 2025 midterm polls.
In an interview at the sidelines of the demonstration of the Online Voting and Counting System (OVCS), Comelec spokesman John Rex Laudiangco said they are looking to see a big jump in the voter turnout among overseas voters.
“We hope to have a similar turnout as the local elections, where we had 84 percent turnout in the last elections,” said Laudiangco, adding: “If we can reach 70 to 80 percent, that is already an achievement for us.”
During the 2022 polls, Comelec records show that only about 600,000 out of the 1.6 million registered overseas voters cast their vote for a turnout of 38 percent.
“That was the highest in overseas voting history. But that remains low when compared to local voter turnout. This is why we want to increase this through internet voting,” said Laudiangco.
He said they are confident of meeting their projection as the OVCS will remove the need for Filipinos abroad to physically go to Philippine posts or mail their ballots.
“They can cast their votes at the convenience of their home, workplace, sailors at sea, as long as they have internet connection and enrolled devices,” said Laudiangco.
Earlier, the Comelec – Special Bids and Awards Committee (SBAC) declared the Joint Venture (JV) of SMS Global Technologies, Inc. & Sequent Tech Inc. as having the lowest calculated bid (LCB) for the OVCS.
Yesterday (Thursday), the SMS-Sequent JV demonstrated their internet voting system before the SBAC as part of the post-qualification evaluation.
Laudiangco said the SBAC is looking to complete the post-qualification evaluation in two to three weeks.
“By the fourth week, the SBAC may already issue the recommendation to the Comelec en banc, which is the head of procuring entity,” said Laudiangco.
In a related development, the Comelec issued on late Thursday the Notice of Award to the Joint Venture (JV) of Ione Resources, Inc. and Ardent Networks, Inc. for the Secure Electronic Transmission Services (SETS) project to be used in the May 2025 national and local polls.
The Notice of Award comes two days after the Comelec en banc approved the recommendation of the Special Bids and Awards Committee (SBAC) to award the SETS project to the Ione-Ardent JV.
Contract negotiations and, subsequently, signing of the SETS project contract is expected to commence soon.
It was in late February when the Ione-Ardent JV was declared as having the “lowest calculated bid” after tending a bid of P1,426,000,348.
To note, the SETS will be used to transmit election results using telecommunication networks.
The project shall include provision of data centers and connectivity requirements for the Automated Election System (AES) servers.
