By TRINA FEDERIS
HONG KONG — Overseas Filipino voters are given a month to vote in the Philippine elections. In Hong Kong, the community center Bayanihan Kennedy Town Centre has been the designated polling precinct for the Philippine elections. That changed this year, when the Commission on Elections (Comelec) shifted to online voting for overseas voters.
On paper, online voting seems like a good idea; the freedom to vote anytime and anywhere, with no long lines to deal with. However, the devil, as always, is in the details.
According to Bayan Muna Hong Kong Spokesperson Lai Besana, this electoral exercise is shaping up to be one of the worst in terms of voter disenfranchisement due to the lack of consultation with the Filipino community, massive information dissemination and training.
“From the onset, we weren’t actively consulted on the implementation of the new voting system, or even if we wanted online voting. They had some seminars where a select few were invited, but it wasn’t massive in the sense of what an information campaign should be regarding a new system of voting. If we didn’t speak up, they wouldn’t have held more information seminars,” Besana explained.
As of April 30, in the middle of the overseas elections, many had no idea that elections would be online, with some having the notion that they can still go to Bayanihan to vote. Registered Filipino voters in Hong Kong are 20 percent of the Asia Pacific overseas voters for the 2025 national elections.
| Region | Number of voters (2025) |
| Asia Pacific | 383,392 |
| Middle East and Africas | 453,502 |
| Europe | 145,381 |
| North and Latin Americas | 259,415 |
| Total | 1,241,690 |
Only 76 posts shifted to online voting. According to Comelec, those with internet restrictions will not have online voting. Instead, other forms will be explored, such as voting by mailing their ballot.
In a May 1 Comelec Town Hall meeting, it said, “Sa demokrasya, hindi dapat nakaasa lahat sa gobyerno (in a democracy, not everything should be dependent on the government), and that the Filipino community should help the Philippine government to spread the news that voting will be done online, as response to Besana after she raised the online voting issues. ”Information dissemination is their task; we pay taxes for them to do their job. We were holding information campaigns anyway, without them having to tell us to do so,” Besana shared.
The voters experienced inaccessible links, on top of the pre-enrollment link posted late. Some needed two gadgets to scan the QR code, as some are not aware that there are apps that can scan QR codes using the same device where the QR code is saved.
For the ID and face verification, parts of the process for enrollment, some had to redo enrollment many times, as the system timed-out, due to the system having a hard time recognizing the voter. Another issue is the one time password or OTP arriving after the time allotted runs out, if at all. Some also resorted to using two devices to access their email, as they have to redo the process after they open their emails to access the OTP.
“It’s very frustrating for us voters. We want to do our part, but how come the Comelec is making it difficult for us?” Besana asked. She added that some have resorted to not voting at all, which would result in their disenfranchisement.
“And it’s not their fault. In fact, only 34.67% of the registered 83,330 voters in Hong Kong actually voted, the lowest turnout ever,” Besana said.
According to Besana, the Comelec could have explored a combination of ways to vote. Instead of only online voting, Comelec could have had a hybrid setup or could have still maintained a polling precinct so that voters could manually cast their ballot, alongside online voting.
“The fact is, many are still showing up in the OWWA (Overseas Workers Welfare Administration) Global Center to ask for assistance in voting. Not everyone is techie enough to be able to whiz through the process without glitches. The Overseas Employment Certificate, a document that needs to be retrieved every time an OFW goes home for vacation in the Philippines, is a perennial problem for OFWs, especially since it can be applied for online,” Besana said.
Besana also questioned the lack of transparency. “We weren’t even given receipts for our votes. The system just asked us to confirm our votes, but we cannot download the list. From the lack of community consultations, to the railroading of the implementation of the online voting, COMELATE has done too little, too late.”
Beyond the Ballot Box
In a democracy, electoral exercises are one of its key features. Its credibility should be clearly established. However, voting isn’t our only duty. It is also not the only means of participation. “We should not only vote. We should also hold accountable those who mar the sanctity of our ballot. But most of all, we have to see beyond the ballot box, and we have to ensure that our society is one worth living in, election day or not.” Besana concluded. (AMU, RVO)
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