A total of 84,357 soldiers, police officers, government workers and media personnel who have applied and were approved under the local absentee voting system may begin to cast their votes today, April 27 until April 29, the announcement of Commission on Elections (COMELEC) announced.
Among these early voters are COMELEC Chair Saidamen Pangarungan, Commissioner Aimee Torrefranca-Neri, and about 1,000 other personnel of the poll body.
Just like the overseas counterparts, local absentee voters can only vote for national positions, such as the president, vice president, 12 senators, and a party-list group.
However, instead of the standard automated election ballots, the “early voters” will be asked to write down their choices on ballots that will be given to them, either by the assigned supervisor or a COMELEC official at the venue where they were registered as absentee voters.
The votes will be canvassed at the COMELEC main office in Intramuros, Manila, after polling precincts are closed on May 9 at 7 in the evening.
There were a total of 93,698 government and media personnel who had applied for the local absentee voting but were denied by the commission.