16 April 2013 – The Philippine Embassy in Kuala Lumpur reported today that the month-long overseas absentee voting (OAV) exercise commenced on April 13, with the receipt of ballots.

Postal voting method is the mode of voting authorized for Filipinos in Malaysia and other countries. In this mode of voting, ballots are sent to registered voters by the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) Central Office in Manila, and the voters fill out their ballots and mail them to the concerned Philippine Embassy or Consulate General.

Nonetheless, some Filipino community members are bringing the envelopes containing their ballots and personally cast their ballots, especially when they come over to the Embassy for their passports, notarizations and other consular requirements.

One of them is Elma de Ocampo Sabangan, an overseas Filipino worker based in Seremban. Ms. Sabangan brought the envelope containing her ballot to the Embassy when she renewed her passport on April 15.

There are 10,685 registered voters in Malaysia, 2,782 of them registering during the OAV registration last year. As of April 16, 137 voters have already sent in their ballots.

"We encourage all registered voters in Malaysia to fulfill their civic duty and send to us their accomplished ballots. They can also personally hand in their ballots when they transact their business at the Embassy," Ambassador J. Eduardo Malaya said.

"While the OAV exercise will end on May 13, we ask our nationals to not wait for the deadline to mail or drop off their ballots. Only ballots received by the Embassy on or before 7 p.m. (Manila time) of May 13, 2013 shall be included in the counting of the ballots," he added. Malaysia and the Philippines share the same time zone.

For updates on the OAV exercise in Malaysia, Filipino nationals can check the Embassy's website, http://www.philembassykl.org.my and its Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/PhlembassyKL. END