Local absentee voting begins for 57,689 approved applicants

Absentee voters casting their votes at their polling precincts at the Comelec office in Intramuros, Manila

MANILA, Philippines – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has kicked off the start of the 3-day local absentee voting (LAV) for election 2025 today, April 28.

Since 9:30 am, Comelec personnel have lined up for the polling precincts at the Comelec office in Intramuros, Manila.

Absentee voting is an advanced voting process for individuals who will be performing their duties on election day. In the Philippines, absentee voters include members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Philippine National Police (PNP), and media practitioners whose duty falls during election day.

Approved absentee voters may cast their votes from April 28 until April 30 from 8 am to 5 pm. Those who will vote ahead of the national elections on May 12 can only vote for national candidates and party list groups.

“Ito ang kauna-unahang pagkakataon sa LAV na automated. Ibig sabihin, walang machines sa bawat lugar kung saan boboto ang local absentee voters,” Commissioner George Erwin Garcia told reporters.

“‘Yung balota ng mga local absentee voters ay ise-safe keep and at the same time, nasa loob ng selyadong envelope. Ito ay sabay-sabay na bubuksan sa May 12 ng gabi at sabay-sabay if-feed sa mga makina dito sa main office ng Comelec,” Garcia added.

The results however will be determined only on the night of the May 12 polls. Garcia has mentioned in previous demonstrations that the new vote counting machines are programmed to transmit data only after 7 pm.

57,689 absentee voters registered

Last week, the Comelec said a total of 57,689 are expected to cast their votes through LAV.

From this figure, 1,005 were media personnel, 29,030 were members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and 23,448 were police officers.

Whereas a total of 4,206 were from various government offices including the Comelec, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology in the Philippines and the Philippine Coast Guard.

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