A total of 189,892 Filipinos who are registered overseas voters in the UAE will now be able to vote online in the upcoming mid-term elections in the Philippines. In a hybrid joint briefing organized by the Philippine Consulate General in Dubai, together with the Philippine Embassy in Abu Dhabi and the Commission on Elections (COMELEC), members of traditional and new media as well as leaders of the Filipino community were informed about the new mode of voting during the overseas voting for the 2025 National and Local Elections which will be conducted from 13 April to 12 May 2025 (3:00 p.m. UAE time). The briefing gathered about 150 participants present both in the Consulate in Dubai and the Embassy in Abu Dhabi, as well as thousands of viewers on the Consulate’s and Embassy’s Facebook pages.
At this mid-term election, the Philippine Embassy and Consulate in the UAE will conduct online voting together with the other 77 Philippine foreign service posts. Meanwhile, there are 16 remaining posts that are not yet ready to adopt online voting and will conduct voting by personal and postal mode. The move to conduct voting online is a solution of the COMELEC to ensure that more people are able to vote as it withstands distance, time, and geographical location.
“We want to help kayong mga kababayan natin abroad, to make voting easier and simpler, but still really secure. Internet voting is an option para makaboto po tayo nang mas mabilis at mas madali. Anytime, anywhere pwede po nating gawin ang pagboto,” said Director Ian Michel G. Geonanga of the Office for Overseas Voting of the Commission on Election in his opening statement.
Philippine Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates Alfonso A. Ver encouraged Filipino overseas voters in the UAE and recounted how voting for overseas Filipinos has evolved in the past years since overseas voting was enacted into law in 2003 under Republic Act No. 9189 or the Overseas Absentee Voting Act. “Lahat ginagawa ng COMELEC. In recognition, pagkilala sa inyo bilang kasama sa paghubog ng kinabukasan ng ating bansa… (Ang pagboto) ang pinaka-konkretong expression ng inyong partisipasyon sa buhay ng ating bayan,” Ambassador Ver highlighted the importance of voting among overseas Filipinos.
“Importante at mahalaga (ang pagboto) at the same time ay exciting para sa atin to be part of this historic voting ngayon dahil first time tayong magkakaroon ng online voting,” added Consul General Marford M. Angeles.
In his comprehensive presentation, Director Geonanga discussed what internet voting is, the procedures for pre-voting enrollment, the online/test voting processes, the manual verification of voters, as well as the support to be extended by the Consulate and Embassy as well as COMELEC.
Director Geonanga discussed the general security measures for the online voting and counting system such as a layered security architecture which will ensure that online votes will not be tampered as they make their way to the digital ballot box. “May firewalls tayong ilalagay d’yan, there’s intrusion detection, intervention systems na nakalatag para ma-make sure na ang systems natin ay secure,” assures Director Geonanga. The systems in place will also be able to monitor and detect threats in the servers, and will have measures to authenticate, authorize, and account to ensure secure access. COMELEC will be providing round-the-clock monitoring and support.
Director Geonanga also showed the step-by-step process to pre-enroll as well as how to vote in the online voting site. During the demonstration, Director Geonanga showed the ease of navigating the system which allows voters to pre-enroll in a few minutes using their phones, computers, tablets, and other electronic devices with a camera.
“The pre-enrollment is a way for us (the system) para makilala kung ikaw nga ba talaga ‘yong naka-rehistrong botante…The pre-enrollment is our method to make sure na ‘yong mga rehistrado lamang, ‘yong mga taong dapat bumoto ang boboto,” says Director Geonanga. The pre-enrollment ensures that only those registered will be allowed to vote as their identification cards and biometrics will be validated by the system.
The voter must be located overseas while pre-enrolling in the system and voters located in the Philippines will be unable to access the site. Pre-enrollment is open until 7 May 2025 and those who successfully pre-enrolled will be able to familiarize themselves with the system and test vote until 12 April 2025. Pre-enrolled voters may vote from anywhere, even in the Philippines, during the voting period from 13 April to 12 May 2025 (3:00 p.m. UAE time / 7:00 p.m. PH time). Per the General Instructions of the COMELEC, only those who are illiterate, with disability, senior citizen, and pregnant may be accommodated to vote at the kiosk located in the Consulate and Embassy. There will be no manual voting as the kiosk will also be using online voting and the voter still has to use his/her own account.
After the comprehensive presentation, participants were able to have a question and answer session which gave the participants a better understanding of the whole process. Questions on safety, security, do’s and don’t’s as well as other technical matters were discussed.
The UAE ranks top among the countries with the most registered overseas Filipino voters with a total of 189,892 registered overseas voters. In the 2022 Presidential Elections, overseas voters in the UAE also ranked first among the countries with the highest turnout of voters, showing the active engagement of Filipino overseas voters in the UAE.END
To pre-enroll in the online voting system:
1. Check if you are in the Certified List of Overseas Voters (CLOV) provided by COMELEC.
a. For voters registered in Dubai, visit https://tinyurl.com/CLOVDubai.
b. For voters registered in Abu Dhabi, visit https://tinyurl.com/CLOVAbuDhabi.
c. For other overseas voters, visit the COMELEC page: https://comelec.gov.ph/?r=OverseasVoting/2025_NROV_CLOV . Registration period was from December 2022 to September 2024.
2. If you are in the CLOV, pre-enroll using the official link from COMELEC. Type this URL on your browser: ov.comelec.gov.ph/enroll
3. Prepare your ID for capturing (Philippine passport, Seaman’s Book, PhilSys ID, IBP, Driver’s License). If you do not have any of these IDs but you are a registered overseas voter, you may opt for manual verification at the Consulate or Embassy where you are registered. For voters registered in Dubai, email: ovs@pcgdubai.ae. For voters registered in Abu Dhabi, email: abudhabioav@gmail.com .
4. Proceed with the next steps to enroll as indicated in the website. If you encounter any technical issues, you may e-mail COMELEC at this address: overseasvoting@comelec.gov.ph
5. Once successfully pre-enrolled, you may test vote until 12 April 2025 to familiarize yourself with the system. The test voting site will close on 12 April 2025 and the actual voting will begin on 13 April 2025 until 12 May 2025 (3:00 p.m. UAE time).
For any further OV-related inquiry, overseas voters may e-mail COMELEC at this address: overseasvoting@comelec.gov.ph
