Leading presidential candidate Senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III got zero votes in at least 26 countries, based on the partial official tally of Congress.
This is because no vote was cast in 23 countries. In 3 countries, there was only one voter each, and they didn’t vote for Aquino.
This is because no vote was cast in 23 countries. In 3 countries, there was only one voter each, and they didn’t vote for Aquino.
The first 2 days of the official canvassing of the votes cast for president and vice-president were marked by repeated announcements of zero votes.
Congress, sitting as the National Board of Canvassers, has canvassed a total of 131 Certificates of Canvass (COCs). There is 1 COC per country or territory.
A total of 133 ballot boxes were opened, but the COC from Iran was empty while the COC from the Bahamas was deferred.
Why spend for OAV?
With the low voter turnout, several lawmakers were prompted to question to value of Overseas Absentee Voting (OAV).
With the low voter turnout, several lawmakers were prompted to question to value of Overseas Absentee Voting (OAV).
“How much money did we spend for zero-zero votes? There is a budget, I think, for absentee voting from the Comelec (Commission on Elections). We send people,” said House Speaker Prospero Nograles.
Comelec records show that low registration for OAV. The voter turnout is low, too.
Thirteen of the 23 countries that registered zero votes have only 1 to 3 registered voters.
Thirteen of the 23 countries that registered zero votes have only 1 to 3 registered voters.
In this year's election, there was only a 23% voter turnout in the OAV with 589,830 registered voters or around 135,000 voters.
However, this was higher than the 16.21% (81,732 of the 504,124 OAV) turnout in the 2007 Senatorial election. But it was lower than the 64.89% (233,137 of the 359,296 OAV) turnout in the 2004 presidential election.
Postal voting
In most of these countries, the OAV votes are sent by mail or through postal voting.
In most of these countries, the OAV votes are sent by mail or through postal voting.
This is done in areas where there is low population of OAV voters, and where the embassy or the consulate is located far from overseas Filipinos' residences.
The voters receive their ballot by mail, which he or she should fill out and mail to the Philippines' designated post for his or her current country/territory of residence.
Personal voting, on the other hand, where voters go to the Philippine embassy or consulate to vote, is done in countries with big populations of OAV voters.
| Countries (post) with zero ballots | Mode of voting | # of registered voters |
| Guyana (Brasilia) | Postal voting | 2 |
| Barbados (Caracas) | Postal voting | 17 |
| Costa Rica (Mexico) | Postal voting | 1 |
| El Salvador (Mexico) | Postal voting | 1 |
| Guatemala (Mexico) | Postal voting | 3 |
| Honduras (Mexico) | Posting voting | 1 |
| Panama (Mexico) | Postal voting | 3 |
| Antigua and Barbuda (Washington) | Postal voting | 2 |
| Cayman Islands (Washington) | Postal voting | 37 |
| Saint Kitts and Nevis (Washington) | Postal voting | 1 |
| Turks and Caicos (Washington) | Postal voting | 33 |
| Mozambique (Pretoria) | Postal voting | 45 |
| Namibia (Pretoria) | Postal voting | 41 |
| Swaziland (Pretoria) | Postal voting | 11 |
| Zambia (Pretoria) | Postal voting | 10 |
| Zimbabwe (Pretoria) | Postal voting | 2 |
| Nepal (New Delhi) | Personal voting | 2 |
| Dominican Republic (Havana) | Personal voting | 3 |
| Madagascar (Nairobi) | Personal voting | 8 |
| Malawi (Nairobi) | Personal voting | 3 |
| Mauritius (Nairobi) | Personal voting | 1 |
| Tanzania (Nairobi) | Personal voting | 11 |
| Iran (2nd COC from 2nd precinct) | Personal voting | 328 |
Source: Comelec Committee on Absentee Voting
According to Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Overseas Absentee Voting Section chairman Ambassador Nestor Padalhin, the Philippine embassies worldwide sought to increase the number of registered OAV voters. He said the bulk of the budget allocated for OAV voting was spent on encouraging Filipinos to register, including the transportation allowance for those who would conduct the registration.
“Plane and bus tickets and transport of machines are the budget concerns when sending proposals to the Comelec as well as when DFA goes on mobile registrations,” Padalhin said.
The turn out for OAV in 2007 was similarly low.
There was only one vote each coming from Antigua and Barbuda and Barbados in the previous elections. Each also had only one registered voter.
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