SK 2010 Voter's Registration Rules and Regulations

COMELEC Resolution No. 9004

RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR THE REGISTRATION OF MEMBERS OF THE KATIPUNAN NG KABATAAN IN CONNECTION WITH THE OCTOBER 25, 2010 ELECTION OF MEMBERS OF THE SANGGUNIANG KABATAAN

Promulgation: 12 July 2010

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WHEREAS, Article 202, Rule XXVII of the Rules and Regulations Implementing the Local Government Code of 1991 provides for an assembly of youth in every barangay to be known as Katipunan ng Kabataan whose primary objective is to enhance the social, political, economic, cultural, intellectual, moral, spiritual, and physical development of the youth of the country;

WHEREAS, Article 203 of the same Rule provides that the Katipunan ng Kabataan of each barangay shall elect its Sangguniang Kabataan composed of a chairman and seven members;

WHEREAS, the commission on Elections, by virtue of the powers vested in it by the Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines, Republic Act Nos. 9340, 9164, 8189, the Omnibus Election Code and other election laws, RESOLVED to promulgate, as it hereby RESOLVES to promulgate, the following rules and regulations to govern the conduct of registration of members of the Katipunan ng Kabataan for purposes of the October 25, 2010 elections of members of the Sangguniang Kabataan;

Section. 1. Who may be registered as members of the Katipunan ng Kabataan. - Any Filipino citizen who is:

a) At least fifteen (15) but below eighteen (18) years of age on October 25, 2010;
b) Actually residing in the barangay for at least six (6) months on election day;
c) Not otherwise disqualified by law.

Section. 2. Who are disqualified to register. - The following are disqualified to register as members of the Katipunan ng Kabataan:

a) Any person who has been sentenced by final judgment to suffer imprisonment of not less than one (1) year, such disability not having been removed by plenary pardon or amnesty. Any person so disqualified shall automatically reacquire the right to vote upon the expiration of five (5) years after service of sentence;

b) Any person who has been adjudged by final judgment of a competent court or tribunal of having committed any crime involving disloyalty to the duly constituted government, such as rebellion, sedition, violation of the firearms laws, or any crime against national security, as defined and penalized under the Revised Penal Code. However, he shall automatically regain his right to vote upon the expiration of five (5) years after service of sentence; and

c) Insane or incompetent persons as declared by competent authority.

Section. 3. Date, time and place of filing, and hearing for approval/disapproval of applications for registration. - The applications for registration as members of the Katipunan ng Kabataan shall be filed from 8:00 o'clock in the morning to 7:00 o'clock in the evening, at the Office of the Election Officer of the city/municipality where the applicant resides, and shall be heard in accordance with the following schedule:

PERIOD TO FILE APPLICATIONS	LAST DAY TO POST NOTICE OF HEARING OF APPLICATIONS FOR REGISTRATION	LAST DAY TO FILE OPPOSITION TO APPLICATIONS FOR REGISTRATION	ERB HEARING FOR APPROVAL OR DISAPPROVAL OF APPLICATIONS FOR REGISTRATION
August 6, 2010 to August 15, 2010	August 16, 2010	August 18, 2010	August 20, 2010

Section. 4 Procedure for filing of applications for registration. - The filing of applications for registration shall proceed as follows.

a) The applicant shall personally appear before the Election Officer of the city/municipality where he resides, state his name and exact address, specifying the house number, name of the street, area, district, purok or sitio and barangay where he resides, or a brief description of his residence, and present any of the following documents:

1.    Certificate of Live Birth;

2.    Baptismal Certificate;

3.    School records; or

4.    Any other document that will establish his identity and other qualifications.

Community Tax Certificate and certification of barangay official shall not be honored.

b) In the absence of the above documents, any person may, under oath, identify the applicant. However, no person shall be allowed to identify more than three (3) applicants unless they are immediate members of his family.

c) The Election Officer shall then determine if the applicant resides within the territory of any of the barangays in the city/municipality. If so, the Election Officer shall inform him of the qualifications and disqualifications for registration.

In addition, the Election Officer shall inform the applicant of the name(s) and location(s) of existing voting center(s) in the baranqay where the applicant resides, and require him to write in the space provided for in the application form the name and location of the voting center that is nearest and most accessible to his residence.

d) Thereafter, the Election Officer shall assign an application number and record in a logbook the applicant's name and the application number given to him and forthwith issue the application form in two (2) copies to the applicant;

e) Upon receipt of the application form, the applicant shall accomplish the two (2) copies individually in his own handwriting and in the presence of the Election Officer or his duly authorized representative. The use of carbon paper shall not be allowed;

f) The Election Officer shall guide the applicant on how to accomplish the application form to ensure that all entries are complete, legibly written and that:

1.    The three (3) specimen signatures of the applicant are properly affixed on each copy;

2.    The rolled imprints of his left and right thumbs are clearly and distinctly impressed.

In case the applicant's thumbprints are blurred, smudged or faint, they shall be retaken on any available space of the application form. If the applicant refuses to have his thumbprints retaken, his accomplished application form shall be rejected by the Election Officer and marked as such accordingly. The applicant shall be informed that such rejection is equivalent to non-registration; and

3.    The name and location of the voting center are indicated.

g) In case the applicant is illiterate or physically disabled to accomplish the application form, he may be assisted by the Election Officer or any of the applicant's relative within the fourth civil degree of consanguinity or affinity or any member of an accredited citizens arm in accordance with the provision of Republic Act No. 8189 and its implementing rules.

h) After accomplishing the two (2) copies of the application forms, the applicant shall return the same to the Election Officer who shall examine the completeness of the data written therein. If the data are complete, the Election Officer shall accomplish the "acknowledgement receipt" at the bottom portion of the application form, detach the same and give it to the applicant.

Section 5. Notice of hearing of application. - Upon receipt of the application, the Election Officer shall immediately set them for hearing in accordance with the schedule shown in Section 3 hereof, notices of which shall be posted in the city/municipal bulletin board and in his office, furnishing copies thereof to the applicants concerned and other accredited groups or organization in the city/municipality.

Section 6. Challenge of right to register. - Any person who meets the qualifications for membership in the Katipunan ng Kabataan, may challenge in writing and under oath any application for registration, stating the ground for the challenge. The challenge shall be filed at the Office of the Election Officer within the time provided under Section 3 hereof.

In case of challenge, the Election Officer shall, immediately notify the applicant challenged, and require the applicant to be present during the hearing so that he can rebut or refute the evidence against his application. The challenge shall be attached to the application form together with the proof of notice of hearing to the challenger and to the applicant.

Section 7. Approval or disapproval of application. - The Election Registration Board (ERB) shall act on all applications for registration and shall, by majority vote, approve or disapprove the application in accordance with the schedule stated in Section 3 hereof. If the Board disapproves the application, the applicant shall be furnished with a certificate of disapproval stating the ground (s) for the disapproval.

In case of approval, any aggrieved party may file a petition for exclusion with the proper Municipal or Municipal Circuit or Metropolitan Trial Court not later than August 31, 2010.

In case of disapproval, the aggrieved party may file with the proper Municipal or Municipal Circuit or Metropolitan Trial Court a petition for inclusion not later than August 31, 2010.

Section 8. Publication of action on application for registration. - Immediately after the approval or disapproval of an application for registration, the ERB shall post a notice in the bulletin board of the municipal/city hall and in the Office of the Election Officer stating the names and addresses of the applicants, the dates of the applications and the actions taken thereon.

Section 9. Preparation of the List of Katipunan ng Kabataan members. - After the meeting of the Election Registration Board on August 20, 2010, the Election Officer shall immediately compile all the approved applications for registration (copy for the Election Officer) by barangay, segregate the barangay compilation by voting centers as indicated in the approved application for registration, and arrange the approved applications by surname in alphabetical order.

The other copy shall be submitted to the Office of the Provincial Election Supervisor.

The Election Officer shall prepare a list of voters with voting records in each voting center with the names arranged alphabetically by precinct at the rate of two hundred (200) voters per precinct. The Information Technology Department (ITD) of the Commission shall prepare a program for the preparation of the list.

Section 10. Numbering of precincts. - The precincts established herein shall be indicated by the initials "SK" followed by the Arabic numeral beginning with the figure (1). The numbering shall start in the barangay of the city or municipality that is first in the order of sequence as appearing in the regular Project of Precincts, and shall continue until the last barangay.

In the case of cities consisting of two or more legislative districts, or cities and municipalities divided into two or more councilor districts, the numbering shall start with SK1 for the first district. The second district shall start with the next number succeeding the last precinct number of the first district. The same sequence of numbering shall be followed for the rest of the districts, if any.

Section 11. Posting of the preliminary list of voters. - On or before August 21, 2010, the Election Officer shall post the preliminary list of voters at the Office of the Election Officer and in the bulletin board of the barangay hall concerned.

Section 12. Voters excluded through inadvertence or registered with an erroneous or misspelled name. - Any registered voter whose approved registration record has not been included in the list of voters or who has been included therein with a wrong or misspelled name may file with the ERB an application for inclusion of his record, or reinstatement or correction of his name, as the case may be. If it is denied or not acted upon, the voter may file on any date with the proper Municipal or Municipal Circuit or Metropolitan Trial Court a petition for an order directing that the voter's name be entered or corrected in the list. The voter shall attach to the petition a certified true copy of his registration record or identification card or the entry of his name in the list of voters, together with proof that his application for inclusion of his record or reinstatement or correction of name, as the case may be, was denied or not acted upon by the ERB and that he has served notice thereof to the ERB.

Section 13. Petition for inclusion of voters. - Any person whose application for registration has been disapproved or whose name, despite approval of his application for registration, has been stricken out from the list may, not later than August 31, 2010, file with the Municipal or Municipal Circuit or Metropolitan Trial Court concerned, a sworn petition for the inclusion of his name in the list of voters for the Sangguniang Kabataan elections. The petition shall be decided within fifteen (15) days from its filing.

Section 14. Petition for exclusion of voters. - Any registered Katipunan ng Kabataan voter may, not later than August 31, 2010, file with the proper Municipal or Municipal Circuit or Metropolitan Trial Court, a sworn petition for the exclusion of a registered voter in the list of voters for the Sangguniang Kabataan elections. The petition shall be accompanied by proof of notice to the ERB and to the challenged voter and shall be decided within fifteen (15) days from its filing.

Section 15. Posting of the certified and final list of voters. -The ERB shall, on or before September 6, 2010, post the certified and final list of voters for the Sangguniang Kabataan Elections at the Office of the Election Officer and in the bulletin board of the barangay concerned.

Section 16. Effectivity, Publication and Dissemination. - This Resolution shall take effect on the seventh (7th) day after its publication in two (2) daily newspapers of general circulation in the Philippines.

The Education and Information Department is hereby directed to:

1.    Cause the publication of this Resolution in two (2) daily newspapers of general circulation in the Philippines; and

2.    Furnish copies of this Resolution to all Regional Election Directors, Assistant Regional Directors, Provincial Election Supervisors, Election Officers, and the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

S0 ORDERED.

(Sgd.) JOSE A.R. MELO Chairman
(Sgd.) RENE V. SARMIENTO Commissioner	(Sgd.) NICODEMO T. FERRER Commissioner
(Sgd.) LUCENITO N. TAGLE Commissioner	(Sgd.) ARMANDO C. VELASCO  Commissioner
(Sgd.) ELIAS R. YUSOPH Commissioner	(Sgd.) GREGORIO Y. LARRAZABAL Commissioner