The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is eyeing to launch online overseas voting in the 2025 elections.
Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon said the plan would depend on the outcome of their ongoing testing of the scheme.
She noted it will also take some time to institutionalize the news plan since it will need necessary legislation from Congress.
“If this test is successful, I have no doubt that the senators and congressmen will fully support mobile voting apps in the future,” Guanzon said in a virtual news briefing last Wednesday.
Currently, overseas absentee voters cast their votes in person in Philippine posts abroad or via mail.
Comelec’s Office for Overseas Voting (OFOV), which is headed by Guanzon, is currently testing the Internet-based voting scheme of election service provider Voatz Inc.
It will also be testing the similar systems of Indra and Smartmatic.
Guanzon said among the criteria they will consider to measure the success of the testing are its security features, accessibility to voters, and its cost.
There are about 1.4 million registered overseas absentee voters, who may avail of the new mode of voting currently being studied by Comelec.
Image courtesy of Roy Domingo