KUWAIT: From Saturday, April 10, a total of 20,256 Filipino residents of Kuwait registered to vote in their nation's election will be able to begin casting their votes for the country's president, vice president, senators and party list representatives. The Overseas Absentee Voting (OAV) starts one month ahead of the actual election date in the Philippines scheduled for May 10, in order to give Filipinos who may be having difficulties with finding the time amid busy work schedules time to vote. By giving a one-month grace period, the Philippine election agency (the Commission on Elections, also known as the 'Comelec') believes that registered voters will be able to choose a suitable date to visit the embassy in order to cast their vote.

The necessary election paraphernalia, including secrecy folders, ballot papers, ballot boxes, election tally boards and the final list of registered voters arrived in Kuwait yesterday and was inspected by Taja Guinomla, the chairman of the newly-established Special Board of Election Inspectors (SBEI), tasked by the Commission on Election with overseeing election procedures throughout the period.

In an exclusive interview with the Kuwait Times, Guinomla, who is also the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait's Administrative Officer, explained, "Overseas voters have been given a one-month period to cast their votes. This has been a tradition since the start of OAV in 2004. But even at that, we want to call upon Filipinos to cast their votes early; the earlier you vote, the better.

Filipino eligible voters can cast their votes even without the identification cards issued by Comelec. "They only have to present themselves, show their valid ID, which could be passports, OWWA ID, SSS ID or even OWWA or Pag-Ibig ID's. One identification card will do," said Guinomla.

Voting will begin on Saturday from 8am-4pm and continue every day, including weekends, until May 10, 2010, Election Day in Manila. "The embassy will be open even on Fridays and Saturdays just to accommodate Filipino voters. The opening hours will be same even on Fridays and Saturdays, but on the final day, which is May 10, we will close simultaneously with the Manila Elections which are set to take place at 6pm there.

We shall accommodate all voters who are in the vicinity of not more than 30 meters away from the election precincts," he said, explaining that Filipino voters in Kuwait will be divided into five election precincts which are to be set up inside the embassy compound. "They'll be arranged alphabetically. Four election precincts will be stationed at the embassy building, with the other precinct stationed at the labor office building [located next door to the embassy building in Jabriya]," he added. "We want the conduct of the election to be orderly without problems, so we divided the precincts accordingly.

This year, for the first time, the electoral voting in the Philippines is to be conducted via a computerized automated process, but the overseas voting will still be conducted manually, either at the ballot box or by postal voting, except for Filipinos in Hong Kong and Singapore, which have been chosen as the pilot locations for automated overseas polling.

I hope there will be no last-minute casting of votes on May 10," said Guinomla. "Nonetheless, we are prepared, but you are only given up till 1 PM on May 10th to deliver your vote. If you fail to do so, I am sorry to tell you that there will be no extension granted," he stressed.

Philippine Vice Consul Rea Oreta, the overall election coordinator urged all eligible voters to take advantage of the lengthy voting period to choose their best candidates. "This is our chance to really exercise our rights of suffrage and be heard," she stressed.

There are approximately half a million overseas Filipino registered voters worldwide. The candidates for president in this year's election include Gilbert 'Gibo' Teodoro, Manny Villar, Noynoy Aquino, Joseph Estrada, Richard Gordon, Eddie Villanueva, Jamby Madrigal and JC Delos Reyes. Unlike the automated polls where candidates are selected from the list of names on the computerized ballot forms, the forms used in the manual voting system are empty, with voters having to write their choice of candidates by  - Kuwait Timeshand.