The National Registry of Overseas Absentee Voters or NROAV will update their list by deleting all registered voters who failed to exercise their right to vote in the last two elections. Registered voters who want their names to remain in the list should renew their license on or before January 11, 2013.

The Resolution No. 9567 from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) states that almost 240,000 migrant voters can be removed from NROAV because of their failure to vote in the 2007 and 2010 elections.

The deletion is mandated by Republic Act 9189 or the Overseas Absentee Voting Act which states that the entries in the NROAV can only be amended “when the OAV’s name was ordered removed by the Commission for his/her failure to exercise his/her right to vote under this Act for two consecutive national elections.”

However, the Comelec decided to give the delinquent voters a chance by filing a manifestation to participate in the May 2013 elections until December 21.

A three-page resolution from Comelec said, “Only after the failure of the concerned AOV to submit the required application within the given period shall their names be removed from the NROAV.”

Affected voters can file their manifestation to participate in the upcoming elections by going to the embassies, consulates or foreign service establishments nearest their location. It will then be forwarded to the Comelec’s Committee on Overseas Absentee Voting.

The manifestation should specify the post where they are registered, their maternal middle name and birth date to “ascertain their identity.”