Omnibus Election Code

7/21/2019 Omnibus Election Code

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Session 8 and 9: OEC Additional Provisions

Omnibus Election Code (BP 881)

Section 190. Voting hours. - The casting of votes shall startat seven o'clock in the morning and shall end at three

o'clock in the afternoon, except when there are voterspresent within thirty meters in front of the polling place whohave not yet cast their votes, in which case the voting shallcontinue but only to allow said voters to cast their voteswithout interruption. The poll clerk shall, without delay,prepare a complete list containing the names of said votersconsecutively numbered, and the voters so listed shall becalled to vote by announcing each name repeatedly threetimes in the order in which they are listed. Any voter in thelist who is not present when his name is called out shall notbe permitted to vote.

Section 191. Preliminaries to the voting. -(a) The board of election inspectors shall meet at the pollingplace at sixthirty o'clock in the morning of election day andshall have the book of voters containing all the approvedapplications of registration of voters pertaining to the pollingplace, the certi!ed list of voters, the certi!ed list of candidates, the ballot box, the o"cial ballots, su"cientindelible pencils or ball pens for the use of the voters, theforms to be used, and all other materials which may be

necessary.(b) #mmediately thereafter, the chairman of the board of election inspectors shall open the ballot box, empty both of its compartments, exhibit them to all those present andbeing empty, lock its interior covers with three padlocks.(c) The chairman shall forthwith show to the public and thewatchers present the package of o"cial ballots receivedfrom the city, or municipal treasurer duly wrapped and

sealed and the number of pads, the serial numbers and thetype forms of the ballots in each pad appearing on thecover, and the book of voters duly sealed. The board of election inspectors shall then break the seals of the packageof o"cial ballots and the book of voters. The board of election inspectors shall enter in the minutes the fact that

the package of ballots, and the book of voters were shownto the public with their wrapping and corresponding sealsintact and$or if they !nd that the wrapping and seals arebroken, such fact must be stated in the minutes as well asthe number of pads and the serial numbers of ballots thatthey !nd in the package.%allots with separately printed serial numbers shall bedeemed spurious and shall not be utili&ed by the board of election inspectors unless the ommission representativeshall order their use in writing, stating the reasons therefor.(d) The chairman and the two party members of the board

of election inspectors shall retain in their possession theirrespective keys to the padlocks during the voting.(e) The box shall remain locked until the voting is !nishedand the counting begins. owever, if it should becomenecessary to make room for more ballots, the board of election inspectors may open the box in the presence of thewhole board of election inspectors and the watchers, andthe chairman shall press down with his hands the ballotscontained therein without removing any of them, afterwhich the board of election inspectors shall close the boxand lock it with three padlocks as hereinbefore provided.

Section 192. Persons allowed in and around the polling place. - uring the voting, no person shall be allowed insidethe polling place, except the members of the board of election inspectors, the watchers, the representatives of theommission, the voters casting their votes, the voterswaiting for their turn to get inside the booths whose numbershall not exceed twice the number of booths and the voters



waiting for their turn to cast their votes whose number shallnot exceed twenty at any one time. The watchers shall stayonly in the space reserved for them, it being illegal for themto enter places reserved for the voters or for the board of election inspectors or to mingle and talk with the voterswithin the polling place.

#t shall be unlawful for any o"cer or member of the Armed*orces of the +hilippines including the +hilippineonstabulary or the #ntegrated ational +olice or peaceo"cer or any armed person belonging to any extralegalpolice agency, special forces, reaction forces, strike forces,home defense units, barangay tanod, or other similar forcesor paramilitary forces, including special forces, securityguards, special policeman, and all other kinds of armed orunarmed extralegal police o"cers, to enter any pollingplace, unless it is his polling place where he will vote but insuch case he should immediately leave the polling place, no

policeman or peace o"cer shall be allowed to enter or stayinside the polling place except when there is an actualdisturbance of the peace and order therein. owever, theboard of election inspectors upon ma-ority vote, if it deemsnecessary, may make a call in writing, duly entered in theminutes, for the detail of a policeman or any peace o"cerfor their protection or for the protection of the electiondocuments and paraphernalia, in which case, the saidpoliceman or peace o"cer shall stay outside the pollingplace within a radius of thirty meters near enough to beeasily called by the board of election inspectors at any time,but never at the door, and in no case shall the saidpoliceman or peace o"cer hold any conversation with anyvoter or disturb or prevent or in any manner obstruct thefree access of the voters to the polling place. #t shall likewisebe unlawful for any barangay o"cial to enter and stay insideany polling place except to vote or except when serving as awatcher or member of the board of election inspectors, in

which case, he shall leave the polling place immediatelyafter voting.

Section 193. Order of voting. - The voters shall vote in theorder of their entrance into the polling place. The votersshall have the right to freely enter the polling place as soonas they arrive unless there are voters waiting inside, inwhich case they shall fall in line in the order of their arrivaland shall not crowd around the table of the board of electioninspectors. The voters after having cast their votes shallimmediately depart.

Section 194. Manner of obtaining ballots. - The voter shallapproach the chairman and shall give his name and addresstogether with other data concerning his person. #n case anymember of the board of election inspectors doubts theidentity of the voter, the board of election inspectors shallcheck his voter's identi!cation card or, if he does not have

any, the board of election inspectors shall refer to hisphotograph and signature in the voter's application forregistration. #f the board of election inspectors is satis!edwith his identity, the chairman shall distinctly announce thevoter's name in a tone loud enough to be plainly heardthroughout the polling place. #f such voter has not beenchallenged, or if having been challenged, the uestion hasbeen decided in his favor, the voter shall forthwith a"x hissignature in the proper space in the voting record, and thechairman shall, after !rst entering the number of the ballotin the corresponding space of the voting record, deliver tothe voter one ballot correctly folded. o person other thanthe chairman shall deliver o"cial ballots nor shall more thanone ballot be delivered at one time.

Section 195. Manner of preparing the ballot. - The voter,upon receiving his folded ballot, shall forthwith proceed toone of the empty voting booths and shall there !ll his ballot



by writing in the proper space for each o"ce the name of the individual candidate for whom he desires to vote.

o voter shall be allowed to enter a booth occupied byanother, nor enter the same accompanied by somebody,except as provided for in the succeeding section hereof, norstay therein for a longer time than necessary, nor speakwith anyone other than as herein provided while inside thepolling place. #t shall be unlawful to prepare the ballotoutside the voting booth, or to exhibit its contents to anyperson, or to erase any printing from the ballot, or tointentionally tear or deface the same or put thereon anydistinguishing mark. #t shall likewise be unlawful to usecarbon paper, para"n paper, or other means for making acopy of the contents of the ballot or make use of any othermeans to identify the vote of the voter.Section 196. Preparation of ballots for illiterate anddisabled persons. - A voter who is illiterate or physically

unable to prepare the ballot by himself may be assisted inthe preparation of his ballot by a relative, by a"nity orconsanguinity within the fourth civil degree or if he hasnone, by any person of his con!dence who belong to thesame household or any member of the board of electioninspectors, except the two party members/ +rovided, Thatno voter shall be allowed to vote as illiterate or physicallydisabled unless it is so indicated in his registration record/+rovided, further, That in no case shall an assistor assistmore than three times except the nonparty members of theboard of election inspectors. The person thus chosen shallprepare the ballot for the illiterate or disabled voter insidethe voting booth. The person assisting shall bind himself in aformal document under oath to !ll out the ballot strictly inaccordance with the instructions of the voter and not toreveal the contents of the ballot prepared by him. 0iolationof this provision shall constitute an election o1ense.

Section 197. Spoiled ballots. - #f a voter should accidentallyspoil or deface a ballot in such a way that it cannot lawfullybe used, he shall surrender if folded to the chairman whoshall note in the corresponding space in the voting recordthat said ballot is spoiled. The voter shall then be entitled toanother ballot which the chairman shall give him afterannouncing the serial number of the second ballot andrecording said serial number in the corresponding spaces inthe voting record. #f the second ballot is again spoiled ordefaced in such a way that it cannot lawfully be used, thesame shall be surrendered to the chairman and recorded inthe same manner as the !rst spoiled or defaced ballot.owever, no voter shall change his ballot more than twice.

The spoiled ballot shall, without being unfolded and withoutremoving the detachable coupon, be distinctly marked withthe word 2spoiled2 and signed by the board of electioninspectors on the endorsement fold thereof and immediatelyplaced in the compartment for spoiled ballots.

Section 198. Voting. -(a) After the voter has !lled his ballot he shall fold it in thesame manner as when he received it and return it to thechairman.(b) #n the presence of all the members of the board of election inspectors, he shall a"x his thumbmark on thecorresponding space in the coupon, and deliver the foldedballot to the chairman.(c) The chairman, in the presence and view of the voter andall the members of the board of election inspectors, withoutunfolding the ballot or seeing its contents, shall verify itsnumber from the voting record where it was previouslyentered.(d) The voter shall fortwith a"x his thumbmark by the sideof his signature in the space intended for that purpose in thevoting record and the chairman shall apply silver nitrate andcommassie blue on the right fore!nger nail or on any otheravailable !nger nail, if there be no fore!nger nail.



(e) The chairman shall sign in the proper space beside thethumbmark of the voter.(f) The chairman, after !nding everything to be in order,shall then detach the coupon in the presence of the board of election inspectors and of the voter and shall deposit thefolded ballot in the compartment for valid ballots, and thedetached coupon in the compartment for spoiled ballots.(g) The voter shall then depart.Any ballot returned to the chairman whose detachablecoupon has been removed not in the presence of the boardof election inspectors and of the voter, or any ballot whosenumber does not coincide with the number of the ballotdelivered to the voter, as entered in the voting record, shallbe considered as spoiled and shall be so marked and signedby the members of the board of election inspectors.

Section 199. Challenge of illegal voters. -(a) Any voter, or watcher may challenge any person o1ering

to vote for not being registered, for using the name of another or su1ering from existing disuali!cation. #n suchcase, the board of election inspectors shall satisfy itself asto whether or not the ground for the challenge is true byreuiring proof of registration or the identity of the voter3and(b) o voter shall be reuired to present his voter's a"daviton election day unless his identity is challenged. is failureor inability to produce his voter's a"davit upon beingchallenged, shall not preclude him from voting if his identitybe shown from the photograph, !ngerprints, or specimensignatures in his approved application in the book of votersor if he is identi!ed under oath by a member of the board of election inspectors and such identi!cation shall be re4ectedin the minutes of the board.

Section 200. Challenge based on certain illegal acts. - Anyvoter or watcher may challenge any voter o1ering to voteon the ground that the challenged person has received or

expects to receive, has paid, o1ered or promised to pay, hascontributed, o1ered or promised to contribute money oranything of value as consideration for his vote or for thevote of another3 that he has made or received a promise toin4uence the giving or withholding of any such vote or thathe has made a bet or is interested directly or indirectly in abet which depends upon the result of the election. Thechallenged person shall take a prescribed oath before theboard of election inspectors that he has not committed anyof the acts alleged in the challenge. 5pon the taking of suchoath, the challenge shall be dismissed and the challengedvoter shall be allowed to vote, but in case of his refusal totake such oath, the challenge shall be sustained and heshall not be allowed to vote.

Section 201. Admission of challenged vote immaterial incriminal proceedings. - The admission of the challengedvote under the two preceding sections shall not be

conclusive upon any court as to the legality of theregistration of the voter challenged or his vote in a criminalaction against such person for illegal registration or voting.

Section 202. Record of challenges and oaths. - The pollclerk shall keep a prescribed record of challenges and oathstaken in connection therewith and the resolution of theboard of election inspectors in each case and, upon thetermination of the voting, shall certify that it contains all thechallenges made. The original of this record shall beattached to the original copy of the minutes of the voting asprovided in the succeeding section.

Section 203. Minutes of voting and counting of votes. - Theboard of election inspectors shall prepare and sign astatement in four copies setting forth the following/6. The time the voting commenced and ended37. The serial numbers of the o"cial ballots and electionreturns, special envelopes and seals received3



8. The number of o"cial ballots used and the number leftunused39. The number of voters who cast their votes3:. The number of voters challenged during the voting3;. The names of the watchers present3<. The time the counting of votes commenced and ended3=. The number of o"cial ballots found inside thecompartment for valid ballots3>. The number of valid ballots, if any, retrieved from thecompartment for spoiled ballots36?. The number of ballots, if any, found folded together366. The number of spoiled ballots withdrawn from thecompartment for valid ballots367. The number of excess ballots368. The number of marked ballots369. The number of ballots read and counted36:. The time the election returns were signed and sealed intheir respective special envelopes3

6;. The number and nature of protests made by watchers3and6<. @uch other matters that the ommission may reuire.opies of this statement after being duly accomplished shallbe sealed in separate envelopes and shall be distributed asfollows/ (a) the original to the city or municipal electionregistrar3 (b) the second copy to be deposited inside thecompartment for valid ballots of the ballot box3 and (c) thethird and fourth copies to the representatives of theaccredited political parties.

Section 204. isposition of unused ballots at the close of the voting hours. - The chairman of the board of electioninspectors shall prepare a list showing the number of unused ballots together with the serial numbers. This listshall be signed by all the members of the board of electioninspectors, after which all the unused ballots shall be tornhalfway in the presence of the members of the board of election inspectors.

Section 205. Prohibition of premature announcement of voting. - o member of the board of election inspectorsshall, before the termination of the voting, make anyannouncement as to whether a certain registered voter hasalready voted or not, as to how many have already voted orhow many so far have failed to vote, or any other facttending to show or showing the state of the polls, nor shallhe make any statement at any time, except as witnessbefore a court, as to how any person voted.

ARTICLE XIII

C!"#TI#$ !% !TES

Section 206. Counting to be public and without interruption. - As soon as the voting is !nished, the board of election inspectors shall publicly count in the polling placethe votes cast and ascertain the results. The board of election inspectors shall not ad-ourn or postpone or delay

the count until it has been fully completed, unless otherwiseordered by the ommission.

The ommission, in the interest of free, orderly, and honestelections, may order the board of election inspectors tocount the votes and to accomplish the election returns andother forms prescribed under this ode in any other placewithin a public building in the same municipality or city/+rovided, That the said public building shall not be locatedwithin the perimeter of or inside a military or police camp orreservation nor inside a prison compound.

Section 207. !"cess ballots. - %efore proceeding to countthe votes the board of election inspectors shall count theballots in the compartment for valid ballots withoutunfolding them or exposing their contents, except so far asto ascertain that each ballot is single, and compare thenumber of ballots in the box with the number of voters whohave voted. #f there are excess ballots, they shall bereturned in the box and thoroughly mixed therein, and the



poll clerk, without seeing the ballots and with his back to thebox, shall publicly draw out as may ballots as may be eualto the excess and without unfolding them, place them in anenvelope which shall be marked 2excess ballots2 and whichshall be sealed and signed by the members of the board of election inspectors. The envelope shall be placed in thecompartment for valid ballots, but its contents shall not beread in the counting of votes. #f in the course of theexamination ballots are found folded together before theywere deposited in the box, they shall be placed in theenvelope for excess ballots. #n case ballots with theirdetachable coupons be found in the box, such coupons shallbe removed and deposited in the compartment for spoiledballots, and the ballots shall be included in the !le of validballots. #f ballots with the words 2spoiled2 be found in thebox, such ballots shall likewise be placed in thecompartment for spoiled ballots.

Section 208. Mar#ed ballots. - The board of electioninspectors shall then unfold the ballots and determinewhether there are any marked ballots, and, if any be found,they shall be placed in an envelope labelled 2markedballots2 which shall be sealed and signed by the members of the board of election inspectors and placed in thecompartment for valid ballots and shall not be counted. Ama-ority vote of the board of election inspectors shall besu"cient to determine whether any ballot is marked or not.ono"cial ballots which the board of election inspectorsmay !nd, except those which have been used as emergencyballots, shall be considered as marked ballots.

Section 209. Compartment for spoiled ballots. - The ballotsdeposited in the compartment for spoiled ballots shall bepresumed to be spoiled ballots, whether or not they containsuch notation3 but if the board of election inspectors should!nd that during the voting any valid ballot was erroneouslydeposited in this compartment, or if any ballot separated as

excess or marked had been erroneously deposited therein,the board of election inspectors shall open saidcompartment after the voting and before the counting of votes for the sole purpose of drawing out the ballotserroneously deposited therein. #t shall then prepare and signa statement of such fact and lock the box with its three keysimmediately thereafter. The valid ballots so withdrawn shallbe mixed with the other valid ballots, and the excess ormarked ballots shall be placed in their proper envelopeswhich shall for such purposes be opened and again labelled,sealed, signed and kept as hereinafter provided.

Section 210. Manner of counting votes. - The counting of votes shall be made in the following manner/ the board of election inspectors shall unfold the ballots and formseparate piles of one hundred ballots each, which shall beheld together with rubber bands, with cardboard of the si&eof the ballots to serve as folders. The chairman of the board

of election inspectors shall take the ballots of the !rst pileone by one and read the names of candidates voted for andthe o"ces for which they were voted in the order in whichthey appear thereon, assuming such a position as to enableall of the watchers to read such names. The chairman shallsign and a"x his right hand thumbmark at the back of theballot immediately after it is counted. The poll clerk, and thethird member, respectively, shall record on the electionreturns and the tally board or sheet each vote as the namesvoted for each o"ce are read.

ach vote shall be recorded by a vertical line, except every!fth vote which shall be recorded by a diagonal line crossingthe previous four vertical lines. Bne party member shall seeto it that the chairman reads the vote as written on theballot, and the other shall check the recording of the voteson the tally board or sheet and the election returns seeingto it that the same are correctly accomplished. After!nishing the !rst pile of ballots, the board of election



inspectors shall determine the total number of votesrecorded for each candidate, the sum being noted on thetally board or sheet and on the election returns. #n case of discrepancy such recount as may be necessary shall bemade. The ballots shall then be grouped together again asbefore the reading. Thereafter, the same procedure shall befollowed with the second pile of ballots and so onsuccessively. After all the ballots have been read, the boardof election inspectors shall sum up the totals recorded foreach candidate, and the aggregate sum shall be recordedboth on the tally board or sheet and on the election returns.#t shall then place the counted ballots in an envelopeprovided for the purpose, which shall be closed signed anddeposited in the compartment for valid ballots. The tallyboard or sheet as accomplished and certi!ed by the boardof election inspectors shall not be changed or destroyed butshall be kept in the compartment for valid ballots.

Section 211. Rules for the appreciation of ballots. - #n thereading and appreciation of ballots, every ballot shall bepresumed to be valid unless there is clear and good reasonto -ustify its re-ection. The board of election inspectors shallobserve the following rules, bearing in mind that the ob-ectof the election is to obtain the expression of the voter's will/6. Chere only the !rst name of a candidate or only hissurname is written, the vote for such candidate is valid, if there is no other candidate with the same !rst name orsurname for the same o"ce.7. Chere only the !rst name of a candidate is written on the

ballot, which when read, has a sound similar to the surnameof another candidate, the vote shall be counted in favor of the candidate with such surname. #f there are two or morecandidates with the same full name, !rst name or surnameand one of them is the incumbent, and on the ballot iswritten only such full name, !rst name or surname, the voteshall be counted in favor of the incumbent.

8. #n case the candidate is a woman who uses her maiden ormarried surname or both and there is another candidatewith the same surname, a ballot bearing only such surnameshall be counted in favor of the candidate who is anincumbent.9. Chen two or more words are written on the same line onthe ballot, all of which are the surnames of two or morecandidates, the same shall not be counted for any of them,unless one is a surname of an incumbent who has served forat least one year in which case it shall be counted in favor of the latter.Chen two or more words are written on di1erent lines onthe ballot all of which are the surnames of two or morecandidates bearing the same surname for an o"ce forwhich the law authori&es the election of more than one andthere are the same number of such surnames written asthere are candidates with that surname, the vote shall becounted in favor of all the candidates bearing the surname.

:. Chen on the ballot is written a single word which is the!rst name of a candidate and which is at the same time thesurname of his opponent, the vote shall be counted in favorof the latter.;. Chen two words are written on the ballot, one of which isthe !rst name of the candidate and the other is the surnameof his opponent, the vote shall not be counted for either.<. A name or surname incorrectly written which, when read,has a sound similar to the name or surname of a candidatewhen correctly written shall be counted in his favor3=. Chen a name of a candidate appears in a space of the

ballot for an o"ce for which he is a candidate and inanother space for which he is not a candidate, it shall becounted in his favor for the o"ce for which he is a candidateand the vote for the o"ce for which he is not a candidateshall be considered as stray, except when it is used as ameans to identify the voter, in which case, the whole ballotshall be void.



#f the word or words written on the appropriate blank on theballot is the identical name or surname or full name, as thecase may be, of two or more candidates for the same o"cenone of whom is an incumbent, the vote shall be counted infavor of that candidate to whose ticket belong all the othercandidates voted for in the same ballot for the sameconstituency.>. Chen in a space in the ballot there appears a name of a

candidate that is erased and another clearly written, the vote isvalid for the latter.6?. The erroneous initial of the !rst name which accompanies thecorrect surname of a candidate, the erroneous initial of thesurname accompanying the correct !rst name of a candidate, orthe erroneous middle initial of the candidate shall not annul thevote in favor of the latter.66. The fact that there exists another person who is not acandidate with the !rst name or surname of a candidate shall notprevent the ad-udication of the vote of the latter.67. %allots which contain pre!xes such as [email protected], 2Dr.2, 2atu2,

2on2, 2Einoo2, 2on.2, 2Eob.2 or su"xes like 2i-o2, 2Fr.2,2@egundo2, are valid.68. The use of the nicknames and appellations of a1ection andfriendship, if accompanied by the !rst name or surname of thecandidate, does not annul such vote, except when they were usedas a means to identify the voter, in which case the whole ballot isinvalid/ +rovided, That if the nickname used is unaccompanied bythe name or surname of a candidate and it is the one by which heis generally or popularly known in the locality, the name shall becounted in favor of said candidate, if there is no other candidatefor the same o"ce with the same nickname.69. Any vote containing initials only or which is illegible or which

does not su"ciently identify the candidate for whom it isintended shall be considered as a stray vote but shall notinvalidate the whole ballot.6:. #f on the ballot is correctly written the !rst name of acandidate but with a di1erent surname, or the surname of thecandidate is correctly written but with di1erent !rst name, thevote shall not be counted in favor of any candidate having such!rst name and$or surname but the ballot shall be considered validfor other candidates.

6;. Any ballot written with crayon, lead pencil, or in ink, wholly orin part, shall be valid.6<. Chere there are two or more candidates voted for in an o"cefor which the law authori&es the election of only one, the voteshall not be counted in favor of any of them, but this shall nota1ect the validity of the other votes therein.6=. #f the candidates voted for exceed the number of those to beelected, the ballot is valid, but the votes shall be counted only in

favor of the candidates whose names were !rstly written by thevoter within the spaces provided for said o"ce in the ballot untilthe authori&ed number is covered.6>. Any vote in favor of a person who has not !led a certi!cate of candidacy or in favor of a candidate for an o"ce for which he didnot present himself shall be considered as a stray vote but it shallnot invalidate the whole ballot.7?. %allots containing the name of a candidate printed and pastedon a blank space of the ballot or a"xed thereto through anymechanical process are totally null and void.76. ircles, crosses or lines put on the spaces on which the voterhas not voted shall be considered as signs to indicate his

desistance from voting and shall not invalidate the ballot.77. 5nless it should clearly appear that they have beendeliberately put by the voter to serve as identi!cation marks,commas, dots, lines, or hyphens between the !rst name andsurname of a candidate, or in other parts of the ballot, traces of the letter 2T2, 2F2, and other similar ones, the !rst letters orsyllables of names which the voter does not continue, the use of two or more kinds of writing and unintentional or accidental4ourishes, strokes, or strains, shall not invalidate the ballot.78. Any ballot which clearly appears to have been !lled by twodistinct persons before it was deposited in the ballot box duringthe voting is totally null and void.79. Any vote cast in favor of a candidate who has beendisuali!ed by !nal -udgment shall be considered as stray andshall not be counted but it shall not invalidate the ballot.7:. %allots wholly written in Arabic in localities where it is of general use are valid. To read them, the board of electioninspectors may employ an interpreter who shall take an oath thathe shall read the votes correctly.



7;. The accidental tearing or perforation of a ballot does notannul it.7<. *ailure to remove the detachable coupon from a ballot doesnot annul such ballot.7=. A vote for the +resident shall also be a vote for the 0ice+resident running under the same ticket of a political party,

unless the voter votes for a 0ice+resident who does not belong tosuch party.

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Omnibus Election Code