14 APRIL 2025, VANCOUVER, BC – The Philippine Consulate General in Vancouver conducted the Final Lockdown and Sealing (FLS) Activity last 11 April 2025 at 5:00 PM at the Consulate’s premises, and officially opened overseas voting for the 2025 Philippine National and Local Elections two days later on 13 April 2025 at 8:00 AM Vancouver Time.
Ensuring integrity of the system: Final Lockdown and Sealing
Vice Consul Marco Harder, PCG Vancouver’s Special Board of Elections (SBEI) Chairperson, presided over the FLS. The activity was also attended by SBEI Poll Clerk Ms. Eleanor De La Cruz, SBEI Third Member Substitute Allan Ignacio, SBEI Poll Clerk Substitute Ruel Penaflorida, and Special Ballot Custody and Receiving Group (SBRCG) Substitute Members Joel Roces and Marilou Barrion. The FLS was livestreamed and recorded on the Consulate’s official Facebook page while personnel witnessed the FLS onsite.
The FLS aims to show and assure the public that the Overseas Voting and Counting System (OVCS) has not been initialized and that there are zero (0) votes in it.
Kickstarting history: Internet Voting for 2025 PH National and Local Elections officially opens
At 8:00 AM of 13 April, the SBEI convened to formally open the OVCS and start the voting process in accordance with COMELEC’s instructions. SBRCG Member Celso Magpile turned over the official COMELEC-issued kiosks to the SBEI Poll Clerk Substitute Penaflorida who provided technical assistance during the activity.
SBEI Chairperson Harder, SBEI Poll Clerk Dela Cruz, and SBEI Third Member Kervin Mon Perez were present to encode their credentials and digital certificates into the COMELEC-issued kiosks to initialize the voting process in the OVCS, formally marking the first-ever conduct of internet voting for Filipino overseas voters in PCG Vancouver’s jurisdiction.
Overseas Voting for the 2025 PH National and Local Elections will run from 13 April 8:00 AM to 12 May 4:00 AM Vancouver Time. Registere overseas voters who encounter issues enrolling and/or voting online using their devices may come to the Consulate for assistance. PCG Vancouver will be open to assist registered overseas voters in pre-voting enrollment and provide access to the COMELEC-issued voting kiosks from 9am to 5pm during this period, including holidays and weekends.
