Sen Pimentel wants probe into Comelec's online voting plan

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III is calling for an investigation into the Commission on Elections' (Comelec) plan for online voting for overseas Filipino voters in the 2025 National and Local Elections.

Pimentel filed Senate Resolution No. 1344, asking the Senate Committee on Electoral Reforms and People's Participation to look into Comelec's authority to implement the internet voting system.

The resolution aims to determine if the online election system can guarantee transparency, voter verifiability, and electoral integrity.

Pimentel cited Republic Act No. 9189, as amended by RA 10590, which mandates Comelec to submit recommendations to the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee before adopting new voting methods.

He highlighted reported issues from Filipinos abroad such as missing vote confirmation receipts, inaccessible platforms, interface glitches, and unreadable voting data on QR codes.

Pimentel also pointed out the low registration rate for internet voting among the 1.2 million registered overseas voters, suggesting potential doubts about the system's reliability.