The Philippine post in New York released a list of over 1,000 names whose Overseas Absentee Voting (OAV) ballots were undelivered.

“The embassy and all the foreign services posts, the consulate-generals here in the United States are doing their best to make sure that this gets to the voters out there,” said Consul Gines Gallaga, information officer of the Philippine embassy in Washington DC.

The Philippine consulate-general in New York issued instructions on how to claim electoral mail.

Voters must present a valid Philippine of US identification card. If sending a representative to claim the ballot, the voter must provide notarized authorization letter and a copy of a valid Philippine ID for both the voter and the representative. If voters want the ballots mailed to them, they must fax or mail a notarized letter of request to the Philippine Consulate General along with a copy of a valid ID.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has allowed each individual foreign post to resolve the matter of undelivered ballots.

“There have been some problems with the postal system, and each post has been instructed to address the issue and we’re acting on it on a decentralized manner. And the common problems were wala yung apartment number. Yung may typos (typographical errors), pwede naming i-correct, they made the necessary corrections and had it sent,” Gines said.

Gines urged the help of the Filipino media in the United States to inform registered voters who do not have access to the internet about updates on the coming elections in the Philippines.

“Diyan tayo makakapagtulungan, sa media, specially the Filipino media in the United States, and I'm sure all the consulates are also doing their outreach to the media and community organizations,” he said.

The OAV will begin on April 10 to May 10.

“Some have already submitted their ballots. The official period for sending in the ballots starts on April 10 but that's fine, they're sealed anyway, and we will just secure them until counting and canvassing is done on May 10,” he said.

400 returned ballots in Canada

In Canada, about 400 returned ballots for the upcoming presidential elections are waiting to be claimed at the Philippine Consulate General office in Vancouver after they were returned by the Canada post due to wrong addresses.

A complete list of registered voters with undelivered ballots in the BC area has been posted at the consulate website for weeks. However, feedback has been low.

“Some people, ayaw nilang gumasta sa mail postage, and some nakalipat na. Ang iba, naging citizen na. Kung wala ho kayong natatanggap, makipag-ugnayan lang ho kayo sa amin, tingnan ninyo po ang aming website at makikita ninyo kung nandoon ang pangalan ninyo,” said Hon. Ruth Morales Prado, of the Consulate General in Vancouver.

Prado also reminded those voting by mail to carefully follow Comelec instructions so as not to invalidate their ballots. These include using the Comelec paper seal, putting a thumbmark and signature on the allotted space, and returning it using the official ballot envelope.

She also hopes kababayans to vote early given the month long process.

“Alam mo, ang mga Pilipino parating last minute, so one week before May 10 yan, hanggang 3 a.m. ng May 10 yan mayroon pang magdadala dito,” she said.

A total of 15, 777 voters are registered for postal voting all over Canada. Tabulation will be done at the consulate offices in Toronto and Vancouver and the embassy in Ottawa. Reports from Balitang America and Marieton Pacheco, ABS-CBN North America News Bureau, Canada