Resolution No. 8739 - General Instructions for the Board of Election Inspectors (BEIs)

Republic of the Philippines

COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS

Manila

RESOLUTION No. 8739

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE BOARD OF ELECTION INSPECTORS (BEI) ON THE VOTING, COUNTING, AND TRANSMISSION OF RESULTS IN CONNECTION WITH THE 10 MAY 2010 NATIONAL AND LOCAL ELECTIONS

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     WHEREAS, Republic Act No. 9369 authorized the Commission on Elections to use an automated election system as it may deem appropriate and practical for the process of voting, counting and transmission of results;

   WHEREAS, in pursuit of this mandate, the Commission on Elections resolved, in connection with the May 10, 2010, National and Local elections, to adopt a paper-based automated election system by using Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) Machines, which shall be deployed in all polling places nationwide;

    NOW THEREFORE, pursuant to the powers vested in it by the Constitution, the Omnibus Election Code, Republic Act No. 9369, and other election laws, the Commission HEREBY RESOLVES to promulgate, the following General Instructions for the Board of Election Inspectors (BEI) on the Voting, Counting, and Transmission of Results:

ARTICLE I

BOARD OF ELECTION INSPECTORS

    SEC. 1.  Board of Election Inspectors (BEI); constitution and appointment. --  The Commission on Elections, through its Election Officer, shall constitute not later than January 8, 2010, the BEI for each precinct/clustered precinct from the list of all public school teachers submitted by the Department of Education’s (DepEd) highest official within the city/municipality/school district.

          The BEI shall be composed of a Chairman and two (2) members, one of whom shall be designated as poll clerk, and all of whom shall be public school teachers, giving preference to those with permanent appointment and those who served in the immediately preceding National and Local Elections.

      In all cases, the Election Officer shall ensure that at least one (1) member of the BEI shall be an information technology-capable person as certified by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) after the training of the same.

       In case there are not enough public school teachers, teachers in private schools, employees in the civil service, or citizens of known probity and competence who are registered voters of the city or municipality may be appointed as members of the BEI; provided, that the chairman shall be a public school teacher.

     SEC. 2.  Qualifications of members of the BEI. – No person shall be appointed as chairman or member of the BEI, whether regular, substitute or temporary, unless he:

a)     Is of good moral character and irreproachable reputation;

b)    Is a registered voter of the city or municipality;

c)    Has never been convicted of any election offense or of any other crime punishable by more than six (6) months of imprisonment;

d)    Has no pending case against him filed in COMELEC/court for any election offense; and

e)    Is able to speak, read and write English or the local dialect.

SEC. 3.  Disqualification. – No person shall serve as chairman or member of the BEI if he or his spouse is related within the fourth civil degree of consanguinity or affinity to any member of the same BEI or to any candidate to be voted for or to the latter’s spouse.  Violation of this provision shall constitute an election offense as provided in Section 261 (bb), sub-par (3) of the Omnibus Election Code.

SEC. 4.  Notice of disqualification. – Any chairman or member of the BEI who is disqualified for any reason shall immediately notify the Election Officer of such fact in writing, who shall in turn, appoint a substitute.

SEC. 5.  Temporary vacancies in the BEI. – If, at the time of the meeting of the BEI, any member is absent or a vacancy exists, the members present shall call upon a substitute from the list of public school teachers submitted by the DepEd to perform the duties of the absent member.  If none is available, the members present shall appoint any qualified non-partisan registered voter of the precinct to temporarily fill said vacancy until the absent member appears.  In case there are two members present, they shall act jointly.

SEC. 6.  Arrest of absent members. – The member or members of the BEI present may order the arrest of any member who, in his or their judgment, has absented himself with the intention of obstructing the performance of the duties of the BEI.

SEC. 7.  Appointment and oath of members of the BEI. – The Election Officer shall accomplish the form for the Appointment of the Chairman and Members of the BEI (A30) in three (3) copies, and require the chairman and members of the BEI to affix their signatures and imprints of their right thumbs on the Oath of Office (A30/A31) before him before assumption of office.

Copies of the Appointment and Oath (A30/A31) shall be distributed, as follows:

a)     The first and second copies shall be retained by the Election Officer.  One copy shall be for his file and the other shall be attached to the payroll for payment of honorarium of the BEI; and

b)    The third copy, shall be issued to the chairman/members of the BEI.

SEC. 8.  Minutes of voting and counting of votes (Minutes). – The BEI shall enter in the Minutes (A11), the act or data therein required as they occur or become available during voting, counting, and transmission of votes.  Copies thereof shall be sealed in separate envelopes, to be distributed as follows:

a) First copy, to the Election Officer, who shall transmit it to the Election Records and Statistics Department (ERSD) in Manila; and

b) Second copy, to be deposited inside the compartment of the ballot box for valid ballots.

SEC. 9.  Support Staff. – There shall be, in addition to the regular members of the BEI, depending on the number of precincts clustered, a maximum of three (3) support staff, who are registered voters in the precinct/clustered precinct where they are assigned.  They shall be appointed/designated by the Election Officer, subject to the qualifications and conditions provided under Sections 2, 3 and 7 hereof, in such manner as indicated below:

NO. PRECINCTS IN A CLUSTER	NO. OF SUPPORT STAFF
1 to 2	0
3	1
4	2
5, 6 and 7	3

They can neither participate in any deliberation of the BEI nor vote on any issue or question that may arise during the proceedings.

In case of absence of all or any of the support staff on the day of the election, the BEI, by majority vote, may designate any registered voter in the precinct/clustered precinct as substitute, subject to the provisions of Sections 2, 3 & 7 hereof.  Such fact shall be recorded in the Minutes.

SEC. 10.  Powers and functions of the BEI. – The BEI shall have the following powers and functions:

a) Conduct the voting in the polling place and administer the electronic counting of votes;

b) Print the election returns and transmit electronically the election results, through the use of the PCOS machine, to the:

a.    City/Municipal Board of Canvassers;

b.    Dominant majority party, dominant minority party, accredited citizens’ arm and, KBP; and

c.    to the central server.

c)  Act as deputies of the Commission in the conduct of the elections;

d)  Maintain order within the polling place and its premises; keep access thereto open and unobstructed; enforce obedience to its lawful orders and prohibit the use of cellular phones and camera by the voters.  If any person refuses to obey the lawful orders of the BEI or conducts himself in a disorderly manner in its presence or within its hearing and thereby interrupts or disturbs its proceedings, the BEI may issue an order in writing directing any peace officer to take said person into custody until the adjournment of the meeting, but such order shall not be executed as to prevent said person from voting.  A copy of such written order (Annex “A”) shall be attached to the Minutes; and

e) Perform such other functions prescribed by law or by the rules and regulations promulgated by the Commission.

SEC. 11.  Proceedings of the BEI. – The meeting of the BEI shall be public and shall be held in the polling place designated by the Commission.

The BEI shall act through its chairman and shall decide by majority vote, without delay, all questions, which may arise in the performance of its duties.

SEC. 12.  Voting Privilege of the Members of BEI and Support Staff. – Members of the BEI, their substitutes and support staff, if any, who are registered voters in a precinct/clustered precincts other than where they are assigned, may avail of the Local Absentee Voting, or on the day of the elections, vote in the precincts where they are registered, provided that they do so when the voting in their respective places of assignments is light, and their absence shall not be for more than twenty (20) minutes.  For this purpose, they shall schedule their voting so that only one member of the BEI shall leave at any one time.

SEC. 13.  Prohibition against political activity. – No member of the BEI or its support staff shall engage in any partisan political activity or take part in the election except to discharge his duties as such and to vote.

SEC. 14.  Honoraria of the BEI. – The chairman and members of the BEI shall each receive an honorarium of one thousand pesos (P1,000.00) per day, but not to exceed three thousand pesos (P3,000.00).  In addition, they shall be entitled to service credits for each day of service (Day before the elections, election day, and day after Elections).  Support Staff shall receive five hundred pesos (P500.00) per day, but not to exceed one thousand five hundred pesos (P1,500.00).

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