A Filipino worker in Hong Kong practices on a magic slate. Photo by UNIFIL.
Overseas Filipino workers in Hong Kong on Sunday started to practice filling up sample ballots to be used in the upcoming automated polls, the first-ever to be done in the history of local and overseas Philippine elections.
Gabriela Women’s Party and Migrante affiliate United Filipinos in Hong Kong (UNIFIL) set up practice tables at Chater Road and invited OFWs to practice ballot shading on specially-made magic slates.
According to Gabriela’s Cynthia Abdon-Tellez, “OFWs are anxious on how the voting will go and how can they ensure that their ballot does not get spoiled. Through this practice, we hope to familiarize them to the size of the ballot and how to properly shade their candidates of choice.”
The biggest Filipino organizations have endorsed and vowed to campaign for Nacionalista Party/Makabayan senatorial candidates Liza Maza and Satur Ocampo, and for partylist group Gabriela.
Overseas absentee voting starts April 10.
Abdon-Tellez said that the four Sundays starting April 10 may not be enough to accommodate all eligible Filipino voters in Hong Kong whose numbers hover at 90,000.
Voters in Hong Kong practice shading the OAV ballots. Photo by UNIFIL.
Majority of OFWs in Hong Kong work as domestic helpers and may only be able to vote on Sundays.
Filipino leaders are also critical of the preparations for OAV in Hong Kong, assailing officials for their “nonchalant attitude” towards voters’ concerns.
Apart from Hong Kong, the Comelec and the Department of Foreign Affairs have said that automated overseas absentee voting would also be held in the city-state of Singapore.
Abdon-Tellez said that their groups will bring the “magic slates” to other areas of Hong Kong to reach more Filipino voters.