Overseas voting begins amid delays, allegations

Overseas absentee voting for the 2022 Philippine national elections commenced on April 10, with approximately 1.7 million Filipinos abroad expected to participate.

Voting was postponed in Shanghai, China, due to a COVID-19 surge, while logistical issues caused delays in New Zealand, Pakistan, Timor-Leste, Italy, and the US.

In New York, thousands of voters could not cast their ballots on April 10 due to late arrival of vote-counting machines and election paraphernalia, prompting a rescheduling of the VCM testing and sealing.

The UAE has the largest number of registered overseas voters with around 200,000, and they started voting on April 10.

The overseas voting period runs from April 10 to May 9, with campaigning abroad prohibited within Philippine embassies and consulates until May 9.

A Filipina in Rome, Italy, alleged that overseas voters were filling out their ballots on the sidewalk outside the Philippine Embassy, a claim under verification by the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

The Philippine Mission in Geneva and the Philippine Embassies in Egypt and Singapore have also commenced their overseas voting periods, with Egypt offering an online pre-verification system to expedite the process and planning a mission to Khartoum, Sudan.