By Haidee V. Eugenio
Variety Assistant Editor

ONLY 21 percent or 1,811 of the 8,514 registered Filipino voters in the CNMI had cast their absentee ballots by the close of the Philippine midterm elections at 5 p.m. yesterday, Variety learned.
But, as expected, 208 voters trooped to the polls on the last day of absentee voting yesterday.
“The mañana habit has again reared its ugly head,” said Philippine Consul General Wilfredo DL. Maximo, referring to the surge of voters yesterday.
Even after 4 p.m. yesterday or less than an hour before the close of the polls, many Filipino voters were still coming in to the election center on the first floor of the Marianas Business Plaza, formerly the Nauru Building, to cast their absentee ballots.
Maximo, however, said that compared to other countries where Philippine absentee voting was held, the CNMI “didn’t do very badly” and that other places “have a more dismal” voter turnout.
Worldwide, the number of registered Filipino absentee voters who had cast their ballots abroad as of Sunday was 63,324, or 12.56 percent of the total 504,122 OAVs, based on the latest tally from the OAV Secretariat at the Department of Foreign Affairs.
The number of voters who have cast their ballots so far is not even equivalent to half of the 144, 825 new voters for this year’s mid-term elections.
In the CNMI, Maximo said they earlier expected that voters would reach a critical mass on Sunday, which was a rest day, but this didn’t happen.
“The turnout was disappointingly low on Sunday. We thought they’d be coming here in hordes,” said Maximo, adding that on Sunday, there were only 128 who cast their absentee votes.
Gary Satobal, a 34-year-old maintenance worker, said he waited until the last day to cast his absentee ballot.
“It was the most convenient time for me,” he said, adding that he didn’t vote along party lines. “It’s a mix of opposition and administration senatorial candidates.”
Ednalyn Reyes, 24, said she and two of her friends went to verify whether they were registered voters so they could cast their absentee ballots.
“When we found out, we voted immediately. It would have been a waste if we didn’t vote,” she said.
Philippine government officials in the CNMI say the low voter turnout could be attributed to many nonresident workers having already left the islands, the non-participation of Filipinos who are on Tinian and Rota, and the less exciting midterm elections compared to a presidential election.
“There’s nothing like the glitter of a presidential election,” Maximo said earlier.
During the 2004 presidential elections, 69 percent of the over 7,000 registered Filipino voters in the CNMI cast their votes.
The one-month absentee voting started on April 14, while the voting in the Philippines was held yesterday.
Maximo said the Philippine Consulate would synchronize the close of polls at 3 p.m. in the Philippines with the close at 5 p.m. here in the CNMI yesterday.
“We will begin the counting immediately after the close of polls. Since we are doing it manually, it may take us the whole night and up to the following day to finish,” said Maximo.