All eligible validated overseas voters should all pre-enroll to be able to vote for the May 2025 elections as the new online voting system commences worldwide.
There will be no more ballot coming from the mail.
This was the urgent announcement and appeal of the Philippine Consulate in San Francisco (PCGSF) through Consul General Neil Frank Ferrer to all overseas voters not just within the San Francisco Consulate jurisdiction but also globally.
With Ferrer to make this appeal were new Deputy Consul General Maria Paz Cortez, Consul Rowena Pangilinan Daquipil alongside Vice-consul Adrian Baccay and Vice-consul Hanna Go of Special Board of Election Inspectors (SBEI) for overseas voting
“To drum up support and encourage our Kababayan to participate in the ongoing overseas voting that started actually April 13 and will go for one month until 7 p.m. Philippine time (4 a.m. PST) of May 12, 2025. This an important midterm election with 12 members of the Philippine Senate to be elected aside from the Party list. The right to vote is a fundamental democratic right. It is both a privilege and a responsibility. Every vote is a voice for the future – for the hopes, dreams and aspiration of the people,” Ferrer emphasized.
This time around, overseas voting will be online where eligible voters can participate anywhere in the world 24/7 through the online voting system for the very first time.
“It is more convenient for all Filipino nationals anywhere and hopefully it will encourage more participation,” said Ferrer. “So far we already had 30 voters who started voting April 13, Sunday. We strongly encourage our Kababayan to take part in this ongoing overseas voting period. Our vote is important. It is a vote for stronger brighter future.”
Ferrer also reminded there will be no more mail-in ballots to be sent nor paper ballots as it will be all online or internet voting. Voters in the last 2019 and/or 2022 elections are active voters and they can pre-enroll then vote.
“We are open. We have a team here in the Consulate assisting our nationals to vote. We have two steps in assisting to vote. Firstly they have to pre-enroll, a system for verifying the identity of the voters. After they have pre-enrolled, they can vote online. Pre-enrolment started last March 20 and is ongoing until May 7 as voting period that started April 13 will go up to 4 a.m. PST of May 12,” added Ferrer.
Ask about those challenged using devices, Ferrer advised, “they can come here where we have a team and we will be happy to assist them and they can also reach out to the team that can help them with pre-enrolment online.”
Over the phone, their regular hotline number is (415) 433-6666 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday.
“We can also have a video conference meeting or phone call to assist them by emailing us at ovs@pcgsanfrancisco.org beforehand to schedule this video conference meeting,” Ferrer directed. “An important thing is that they have already registered as a voter. The deadline was last September 24, 2024.”
“Instructions on how to pre-enroll and how to vote is in our website, our social media accounts, feel free to download and share it.”
SBEI officer-in-charge Vice-consul Go reported that the PCGSF had the highest voter turnout in the Americas in the last elections in 2022.
“We now have more than 40,687 eligible voters, 17,137 of which are new voters, in our jurisdiction. We are allowed to vote 24/7 until 4 a.m. PST of May 12, 2025,” Go reported. “Assistance in the Consulate is available from Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Monday to Sunday including holidays and up to 4 a.m. on May 12, 2025.”
COMELEC has not set a target figure for voter turnout on these coming elections but PCGSF really wants to surpass the turnout in the previous elections which is always really their objective.
Vice-consul Go also said that at the close of the voting period, there would be an online tally and reports would be generated by the system.
“We will print them out and we will send it to the public while we are generating the reports. We will let the public witness how we generate the reports, print it and how we post it on the bulletin board. There will be a physical printout that would be generated,” Go shared.
“We are hoping that this first time will be successful. If this will be very successful, it would be a regular feature for future national elections. That will be decided upon by COMELEC. We were just deputized to implement it here within our jurisdiction,” Ferrer disclosed.
Under the PCGSF jurisdiction are the states of Alaska, Northern California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Northern Nevada , Oregon, Utah, Washington State and Wyoming.
